JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 15.1%, bringing its total holdings to approximately 1.72 million shares valued at around $398.3 million.
• Waste Management reported $6.43 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with eps of $1.92, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89.
• Several analysts raised their price targets for Waste Management, with Citigroup increasing its target from $260 to $271 while maintaining a "buy" rating.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,720,459 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 226,083 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.43% of Waste Management worth $398,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,193,000 after purchasing an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 31,456 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,176 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,129,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 5,224 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $237.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $95.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.69 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $230.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 $3,917,311.02. This represents 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WM. Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Melius began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. HSBC raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.35.

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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