Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Holdings Lowered by Waverton Investment Management Ltd

Waverton Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trium Capital LLP boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 33.6% during the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% during 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 buying an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 18.6% during the first quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 20,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,284,000 after buying an additional 3,145 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings 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 worth $720,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings 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 worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $223.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $210.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.25. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.73 and a 52-week high of $226.50.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management 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 in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.