Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stake Boosted by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 162,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,671 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $35,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $325,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 272,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,339,000 after buying an additional 20,122 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 366,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,843,000 after buying an additional 148,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $219.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $222.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.68. The company has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.