Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Lowers Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 204,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,914 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $43,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.5% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 17.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 148,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,679,000 after acquiring an additional 21,672 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 31.8% in the third quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 11,472 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.0% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 56,801 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,659,000 after acquiring an additional 6,515 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC raised their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $211.09. 580,720 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,704,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $201.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

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.