2,592 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Purchased by Global Assets Advisory LLC

Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $969,401,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $900,957,000 after buying an additional 1,303,466 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Waste Management by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after purchasing an additional 243,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 worth $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.89.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $211.80 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $85.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.95 and a fifty-two week high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 47.69%.

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.