Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Bought by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 56.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 227,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,150 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $52,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after buying an additional 553,605 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,820,921,000 after acquiring an additional 281,456 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,371,000 after purchasing an additional 117,476 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,613,000 after purchasing an additional 277,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,022,916,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 2.7%

WM stock opened at $230.19 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13. The firm has a market cap of $92.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $220.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.30.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.