Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 262,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $54,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 44.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,466 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $193,955,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,196,000 after purchasing an additional 863,846 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 85.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,234,000 after purchasing an additional 720,358 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $219.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 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 fifty-two week low of $168.73 and a fifty-two week high of $226.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $212.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.86.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.