Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Banque Pictet & Cie SA

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,722,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 117,995 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for 2.2% of Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Banque Pictet & Cie SA owned approximately 0.43% of Waste Management worth $378,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Waste Management by 444.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,728 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 163.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,317,000 after buying an additional 869,453 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 982.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 886,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,692,000 after acquiring an additional 804,285 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after acquiring an additional 774,255 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $231.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $93.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total value of $1,724,044.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,644,130. The trade was a 32.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.