Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Has $1.48 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 35.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 19.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth $122,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.5% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,945,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 14,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,090,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Waste Management stock opened at $223.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $226.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $210.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.25.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

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.