Korea Investment CORP Grows Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 43.0%, owning 453,727 shares valued at approximately $105 million after purchasing an additional 136,408 shares in the first quarter.
• Other hedge funds have also significantly increased their positions, with GAMMA Investing LLC growing its stake by 26,095.2%, now holding nearly 1.91 million shares valued at $442 million.
• Waste Management reported earnings per share of $1.92 for the latest quarter, exceeding expectations, with total revenue of $6.43 billion, marking a 19.0% increase compared to the previous year.

Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 43.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 453,727 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 136,408 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.11% of Waste Management worth $105,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 26,095.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $442,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,081 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at $333,089,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $205,506,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Waste Management by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $806,509,000 after buying an additional 465,789 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% 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 insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $226.80 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $230.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.68. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.69 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WM. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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