Independent Advisor Alliance Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance has reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 7.6%, selling 4,803 shares and now holding 58,153 shares worth approximately $13.46 million.
• The company's CFO, Devina A. Rankin, sold 57,888 shares at an average price of $237.36, resulting in a significant 40.82% decrease in their position.
• Waste Management reported a 19% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, achieving $6.43 billion and exceeding analysts' earnings expectations with $1.92 EPS.

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,153 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,803 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Waste Management were worth $13,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Waste Management by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $806,509,000 after purchasing an additional 465,789 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,633,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $531,456,000 after purchasing an additional 177,398 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Waste Management by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,426,067 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $489,570,000 after purchasing an additional 170,046 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,181,924 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $505,137,000 after purchasing an additional 29,715 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of WM stock traded down $4.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $233.03. 1,137,629 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,527,072. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.69 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company's 50 day moving average is $230.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market cap of $93.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

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.