Flossbach Von Storch SE Acquires New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,365 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $295,000. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,710 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,583,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Eight 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.29.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $225.80. 677,609 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,727,612. The company has a market cap of $90.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $232.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.