Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 170.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 333,922 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 210,258 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Waste Management worth $69,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $820,539,000 after purchasing an additional 243,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $229.33.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded down $4.73 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $217.46. 590,233 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,608,431. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.30 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The stock has a market cap of $87.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $216.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.