KBC Group NV Acquires 43,130 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350,860 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 43,130 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.09% of Waste Management worth $81,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $822,588,000 after acquiring an additional 224,279 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $251.00.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of WM traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $228.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,895,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,912. The company has a 50 day moving average of $233.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The firm has a market cap of $91.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66. 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 (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.