Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 444,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,348 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $95,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $229.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James upped their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,173 shares of company stock worth $17,075,967 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.