Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 74,394 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Russell Investments reduced its Waste Management stake by 10.2% in the second quarter, selling 74,394 shares and retaining 657,620 shares valued at approximately $146.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.4% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with 13 Buy ratings and seven Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $258.89.
• Waste Management reported quarterly EPS of $2.02, beating estimates by $0.04, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion, slightly below expectations.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 657,620 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 74,394 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.16% of Waste Management worth $146,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 55,895 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,391 shares during the period. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $10,206,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $105,776,000 after purchasing an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in Waste Management by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 236,153 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,885,000 after buying an additional 36,900 shares during the period. Finally, Directional Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $258.89.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $223.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $89.42 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $227.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. Waste Management's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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