PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 0.3%, now holding around 512,707 shares valued at approximately $118.7 million.
• Waste Management's earnings per share for the latest quarter was $1.92, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.89, with a 19.0% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, equating to an annual yield of 1.4%.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,707 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,487 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Waste Management worth $118,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% in the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $231.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 184,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,712,342. The company has a 50 day moving average of $231.36 and a 200 day moving average of $228.51. The stock has a market cap of $93.19 billion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.69 and a 12-month high of $242.58.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the 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 owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Eight investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.35.

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.