Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. by 20.9%, acquiring an additional 19,000 shares to reach a total of 109,696 shares valued at approximately $25.4 million.
• Equities analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Waste Management, with price targets rising, including a recent increase to $265.00 by Oppenheimer.
• The company reported Q2 earnings of $1.92 per share, surpassing estimates, with a revenue rise of 19% year-over-year, amounting to $6.43 billion.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 109,696 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Waste Management were worth $25,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 126.9% during the 1st quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Adalta Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $226.80. 3,371,175 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,657,967. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $91.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.69 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $230.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.50.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $254.35.

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.