Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,023 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $26,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $1,022,916,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after purchasing an additional 939,455 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,317,000 after purchasing an additional 869,453 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 279.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,075,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,387,000 after buying an additional 792,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 23,051.5% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 770,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,716,000 after buying an additional 767,615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. Wolfe Research started coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $230.19 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $220.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.44 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management Profile

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.