AMI Asset Management Corp Trims Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• AMI Asset Management reduced its Waste Management stake by 3.1% in the second quarter, selling 5,518 shares and retaining 171,839 shares valued at approximately $38.3 million.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 80.4%, while several other investment firms increased their positions in Waste Management.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.89. The company also exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.02 in EPS versus the $1.98 consensus estimate.

AMI Asset Management Corp cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,839 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,518 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up 2.2% of AMI Asset Management Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings in Waste Management were worth $38,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,206,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $105,776,000 after buying an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 236,153 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $51,885,000 after buying an additional 36,900 shares during the period. LBP AM SA boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 46,640 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,247,000 after buying an additional 9,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Directional Asset Management acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $1,361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waste Management from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $258.89.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.8%

WM opened at $224.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.44. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $227.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.90. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc NYSE: WM is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.

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