Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd significantly increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. by 202.7%, bringing its total to 5,805 shares valued at approximately $1.29 million at the end of the first quarter.
• A number of hedge funds, including Brighton Jones LLC and Golden State Wealth Management LLC, also augmented their positions in Waste Management, indicating strong institutional interest in the company's stock.
• Waste Management recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, with a resulting yield of 1.40%, reflecting a healthy payout ratio of 48.96%.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 202.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,805 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 3.0% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $254.35.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $0.27 on Friday, reaching $228.89. 1,389,422 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,601,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.96, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $231.65 and a 200 day moving average of $227.97. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.69 and a 52 week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.96%.

Waste Management 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.