Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $71.74 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 92.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 309,898 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 148,780 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Waste Management worth $71,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 126.9% in the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 69.0% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $251.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $251.00.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4%

Waste Management stock traded up $3.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $226.43. 1,525,978 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,625,583. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $232.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The stock has a market cap of $91.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

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.