Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 85,830 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 390,919 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 85,830 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.10% of Waste Management worth $70,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $827,815,000 after buying an additional 776,491 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $794,174,000 after buying an additional 66,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $619,797,000 after buying an additional 90,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,446,103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $372,886,000 after purchasing an additional 9,001 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. UBS Group cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.85.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded up $2.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $212.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,097,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,379. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $208.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management's payout ratio is 53.00%.

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.

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