Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 122,973 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 36.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 456,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 122,973 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $92,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 103,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,951,000 after buying an additional 42,684 shares during the period. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,720,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $344,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of WM opened at $229.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $92.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $224.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.37. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Profile

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.