Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 21,642 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $23,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. American National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1,459.9% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 2,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 55,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the second quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 57,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,907,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the period. 78.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $925,876.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,573,336. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 4,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $716,724.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,321 shares in the company, valued at $30,499,212. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $925,876.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,573,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WM opened at $171.18 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $161.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.05. The company has a market cap of $68.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.31 and a twelve month high of $173.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.27 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 11.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $179.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.77.

Waste Management Company 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.