Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.13% of Waste Management worth $969,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $300,594,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after buying an additional 1,303,466 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter worth about $193,955,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,196,000 after buying an additional 863,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Waste Management by 85.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,234,000 after acquiring an additional 720,358 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.83.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $207.69 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $225.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $83.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Waste Management

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.