Capital International Sarl Purchases New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Capital International Sarl purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 990 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $784,486,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $300,594,000. Mirova US LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $117,299,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.5 %

WM stock traded down $2.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $196.96. 2,500,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,486,250. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $79.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.83.

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.