Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Acquires 29,315 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,315 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $17,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WM. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $228.22 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $91.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $215.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.71. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.73 and a 1 year high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the 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 owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.