Parnassus Investments LLC Increases Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up about 2.3% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,063,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trium Capital LLP raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% in the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Waste Management by 417.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 32.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. William Blair began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WM opened at $218.31 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $168.73 and a one year high of $226.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.38, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $211.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

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.