Northwest Bancshares Inc. Trims Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 15.2% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 25,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,436 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $185,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 23.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WM opened at $219.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.86. The stock has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.73 and a 1 year high of $226.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.