J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Has $219,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 82.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,084 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,218 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Waste Management were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,963 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,221,000 after buying an additional 2,705 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its stake in Waste Management by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 121,696 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $24,557,000 after acquiring an additional 7,462 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $10,098,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 110,001 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,186,000 after purchasing an additional 13,175 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 272.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 23,390 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,720,000 after purchasing an additional 17,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $228.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company has a market cap of $92.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $227.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.38.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WM. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.76.

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.

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