Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $85.11 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 475,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,278 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.12% of Waste Management worth $85,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 534.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 53,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,411,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 358,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,842,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 83.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,030 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,234,000 after buying an additional 10,212 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $204.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,457,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,687,398. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The company has a market cap of $82.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.90.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 53.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,057 shares of company stock worth $5,895,870. Company 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.