Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stock Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 14.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,533 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 31,864 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $37,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,849,981,000 after acquiring an additional 535,079 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,008,931 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,013,831,000 after acquiring an additional 507,209 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,121,427 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $695,704,000 after acquiring an additional 35,322 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,320,966 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $533,340,000 after acquiring an additional 26,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Waste Management by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,207,477 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $492,002,000 after acquiring an additional 166,458 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Waste Management from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $277.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $267.00 price objective (up from $263.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $257.04.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $236.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $94.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.47 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $219.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.59.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.97%. The firm had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.9450 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 49.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $771,629.10. The trade was a 28.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Waste Management

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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