Invesco Ltd. Sells 250,594 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 12.1%, now holding approximately 1.8 million shares valued at about $419.5 million.
• During the same period, several other institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Golden State Wealth Management LLC, increased their stakes in Waste Management, indicating strong interest from institutional players.
• Waste Management reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.92 for the most recent quarter, exceeding expectations and marking a 19% year-over-year revenue growth.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,812,230 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 250,594 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.45% of Waste Management worth $419,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $822,588,000 after acquiring an additional 224,279 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $806,509,000 after acquiring an additional 465,789 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.2% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 177,398 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,426,067 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $489,570,000 after acquiring an additional 170,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,181,924 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $505,137,000 after acquiring an additional 29,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE WM traded down $4.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $233.03. 1,137,629 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,527,072. The business's 50-day moving average is $230.63 and its 200-day moving average is $229.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.69 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

About Waste Management

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.