SL Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

SL Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.0% of SL Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. SL Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 18,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,955,000 after purchasing an additional 8,586 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 124.5% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,532,000 after buying an additional 3,982 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,665,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 4.3% during the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 3.8% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 44,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $2.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $206.19. The stock had a trading volume of 895,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,429,067. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $177.38 and a one year high of $230.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $82.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.87%.

Waste Management Company 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.