Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 17,982 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 596,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,982 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $121,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.5% in the third quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Asset One Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asset One Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $134,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 163,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,247,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WM stock opened at $236.50 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.47 and a 1-year high of $248.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $219.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $94.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.97% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.9450 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WM. Bank of America increased their target price on Waste Management from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.04.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.