Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG) Shares Bought by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG - Free Report) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 640,563 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,408 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned 0.20% of Republic Services worth $124,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Unigestion Holding SA increased its holdings in Republic Services by 2,178.2% in the fourth quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 127,647 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,048,000 after buying an additional 122,044 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Republic Services by 52.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 214,504 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,357,000 after acquiring an additional 73,651 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Republic Services by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 456,726 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $75,297,000 after acquiring an additional 36,484 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Republic Services by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 591,209 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $97,496,000 after acquiring an additional 55,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Republic Services by 123.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 38,869 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,410,000 after acquiring an additional 21,481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RSG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Republic Services from $219.00 to $214.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Republic Services from $201.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Republic Services from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Republic Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Republic Services from $196.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $211.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Republic Services

In other Republic Services news, Director Tomago Collins sold 3,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.01, for a total transaction of $649,632.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,549,832.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Republic Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RSG traded up $1.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $204.40. 325,328 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,158,662. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Republic Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.23 and a 12 month high of $208.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $202.29 and a 200-day moving average of $194.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.70.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.11% and a return on equity of 17.81%. On average, equities analysts expect that Republic Services, Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from Republic Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Republic Services's payout ratio is presently 40.70%.

Republic Services Profile

Republic Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers environmental services in the United States and Canada. It is involved in the collection and processing of recyclable, solid waste, and industrial waste materials; transportation and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste streams; and other environmental solutions.