Deutsche Bank AG Sells 39,797 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 1.9% to 2,064,853 shares, which are now valued at approximately $478 million.
• Institutional investors own 80.40% of Waste Management's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and marking a 19% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

Deutsche Bank AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,064,853 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 39,797 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.51% of Waste Management worth $478,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of WM traded up $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $235.11. 1,088,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,562,063. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.69 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50-day moving average price is $230.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.84.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Eight equities 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.35.

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.