Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 280,455 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for 0.9% of Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 1.06% of Waste Management worth $854,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 56,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,040,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 73,802 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,745,000 after acquiring an additional 11,123 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $201.65 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.68 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $215.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

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.