Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $5.64 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stock position in Waste Management, Inc. by 35.5%, now holding 24,356 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million.
• During the first quarter, several institutional investors, including Westend Capital Management and West Branch Capital LLC, increased their stakes in Waste Management, indicating ongoing interest in the stock despite Pacer's reduction.
• Waste Management reported earnings of $1.67 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share with a 1.44% yield.

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 35.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,356 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 13,385 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,698,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned 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 $253.76.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock traded down $1.22 on Thursday, hitting $231.29. 444,092 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,718,129. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market cap of $93.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.69 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $231.74 and a 200-day moving average of $227.82.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.96%.

Waste Management 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.