Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,016 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $34,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total transaction of $150,628.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,607 shares in the company, valued at $2,345,356.91. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,296 shares of company stock valued at $8,569,283. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $222.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.19 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $248.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $228.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.29.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

About Waste Management

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.