Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 70.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,316 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after acquiring an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after acquiring an additional 277,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $1,064,206,000. Amundi lifted its position in Waste Management by 8.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,596,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $804,809,000 after purchasing an additional 284,733 shares during the period. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 3,262,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,380,000 after purchasing an additional 364,512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.0%

Waste Management stock opened at $238.61 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $229.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total value of $2,847,055.12. Following the sale, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. This trade represents a 66.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.