Robeco Schweiz AG Sells 50,789 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Robeco Schweiz AG cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 50,789 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.5% of Robeco Schweiz AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Robeco Schweiz AG owned 0.07% of Waste Management worth $66,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,662,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,617,866,000 after buying an additional 292,868 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,856,000 after purchasing an additional 126,329 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,390,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,232,131,000 after buying an additional 74,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,064,206,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,596,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $804,809,000 after buying an additional 284,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $234.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. DZ Bank assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total value of $299,542.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,112.40. The trade was a 8.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE WM opened at $216.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a PE ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.31. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.44 billion during 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%.The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 51.97%.

About Waste Management

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.