AXS Investments LLC Reduces Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

AXS Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 36.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 534.5% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Waste Management by 0.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 53,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,411,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 358,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,842,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 83.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position 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 valued at $5,234,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares during the period. 78.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $192.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.77.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $925,876.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 171,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,573,336. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $925,876.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 171,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,573,336. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 4,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $716,724.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 177,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,499,212. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $171.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.31 and a twelve month high of $173.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $161.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.05. The stock has a market cap of $68.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.27 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.56%.

Waste Management Company 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.