1,200 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Bought by Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMFree Report) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000. Waste Management makes up 3.3% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Waste Management by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,193,000 after acquiring an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 242.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 23,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,766,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 199,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,223,000 after purchasing an additional 16,628 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, June 9th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.00.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Waste Management

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $231.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $93.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $233.07 and a 200 day moving average of $224.05.

Waste Management (NYSE:WMGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Waste Management Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Waste Management (NYSE:WM)

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