Kestra Advisory Services LLC Acquires 10,648 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services increased its Waste Management stake by 8.9%, adding 10,648 shares to hold 130,763 shares valued at about $26.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.4% of the stock.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $257.04; 18 analysts rate the stock Buy and eight rate it Hold.
• Waste Management reported quarterly revenue of $6.85 billion, up 6.3% year over year and above expectations, but earnings per share of $2.15 slightly missed the $2.18 consensus.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,763 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,648 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $26,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $322,479,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $146,053,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,849,981,000 after purchasing an additional 535,079 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,008,931 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,013,831,000 after buying an additional 507,209 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 90.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 806,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,250,000 after buying an additional 382,079 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $232.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $277.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $257.04.

Waste Management Stock Down 2.0%

WM opened at $236.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $197.47 and a one year high of $248.13. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $219.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.97%. The firm had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. Waste Management's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were given a $0.9450 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.61%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM NYSE: WM, is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.