Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 436 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,466 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 worth $473,047,000 after acquiring an additional 221,380 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WM shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $217.79. 44,700 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,614,250. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.73 and a twelve month high of $225.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.