Nomura Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 104.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,129 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth approximately $325,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 17.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 85,184 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,721,000 after buying an additional 12,585 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 3.7% during the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,260,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 117.8% during the 1st quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 2,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. This trade represents a 8.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of WM opened at $218.41 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.Waste Management’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 51.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WM. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, November 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.14.

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.