Swedbank AB Lowers Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,740,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,519 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.43% of Waste Management worth $351,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $2.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $211.54. 123,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,629. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.72 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.39.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.