LGT Group Foundation Buys 120 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

LGT Group Foundation grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 151.2% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 17,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,620,000 after acquiring an additional 10,386 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.4% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Prudential PLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.8% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 44,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CIBC cut their price objective on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.83.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $208.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $225.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $209.41 and a 200 day moving average of $208.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

About Waste Management

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.