Swiss National Bank Decreases Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,104,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 56,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.27% of Waste Management worth $242,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of WM stock opened at $218.90 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $223.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.