Griffin Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,174,000 after buying an additional 66,816 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,624,000 after buying an additional 16,213 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $784,486,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Waste Management by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after acquiring an additional 844,298 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale 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 Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $213.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,908,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,972,412. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $85.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $208.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.69.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.61.

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.