Leonteq Securities AG Acquires Shares of 15,576 Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Leonteq Securities AG opened a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter, buying 15,576 shares valued at about $3.42 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on WM, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a $255.67 average price target.
• Waste Management reported better-than-expected EPS of $1.81 for the latest quarter and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share, payable June 18.

Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,576 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,422,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,566,508,000 after buying an additional 553,605 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,250,613,000 after acquiring an additional 277,250 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $873,276,000 after acquiring an additional 11,688 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,530,900 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $781,494,000 after acquiring an additional 236,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 12.6% in the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 3,262,148 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $720,380,000 after acquiring an additional 364,512 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $255.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total transaction of $150,628.21. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,607 shares in the company, valued at $2,345,356.91. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. This trade represents a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $219.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market cap of $88.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $227.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.42. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc NYSE: WM is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.

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