J.Safra Asset Management Corp Grows Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 80.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after acquiring an additional 157,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,406 shares of company stock worth $15,076,127 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $229.86 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.38. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market cap of $92.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James increased their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.