Achmea Investment Management B.V. Trims Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,408 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,211 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.3% during the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.7% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 68,338 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares in the last quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 3.9% in the first quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,618 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WM shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Melius Research raised Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $251.00.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $228.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The company has a market capitalization of $91.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $233.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.38.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

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

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.

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