J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 82.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,084 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,218 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Waste Management were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Waste Management by 250.1% in 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 last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $1.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $228.07. 832,270 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,645,253. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $227.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WM. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.28.

About Waste Management

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.