Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stock: NTV Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings

Key Points

• NTV Asset Management increased its Waste Management holdings by 17.8% in the third quarter to 27,792 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.4% of WM.
• Waste Management reported quarterly EPS of $2.02, beating estimates by $0.04, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion but fell slightly short of forecasts.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share, equivalent to a $3.78 annualized payout and a 1.6% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $256.06.

NTV Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 17.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,792 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,208 shares during the quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $322,479,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 23,051.5% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 770,945 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,716,000 after acquiring an additional 767,615 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth $146,053,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,849,981,000 after purchasing an additional 535,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,008,931 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,013,831,000 after purchasing an additional 507,209 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $771,629.10. The trade was a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $239.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $248.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $216.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.33.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.92 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.9450 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $235.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $256.06.

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.

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