Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Position Boosted by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 161,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,976 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $32,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.9% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% in the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 4.1% in the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1 %

Waste Management stock opened at $227.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $212.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.96.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

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.