Vontobel Holding Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 161,118 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,976 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $32,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,686,203,000 after buying an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,175,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.57 on Tuesday, reaching $229.30. 565,538 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,655,701. The company has a market cap of $92.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $212.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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 38.88%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.