Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 85,830 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 390,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 85,830 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $70,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth $35,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its position in Waste Management by 66.7% during the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 40.1% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded up $2.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $212.65. 2,097,044 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,671,379. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $208.10 and a 200-day moving average of $186.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The firm has a market cap of $85.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

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.