NEOS Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 45.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 48,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,233 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 21,622 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,775,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 7.0% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,814,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.0% during the third quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 3,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.71, for a total transaction of $151,599.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 83,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,397,636.56. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.71, for a total transaction of $239,638.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,950,205.39. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,126 shares of company stock worth $14,770,037. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $234.93 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $94.76 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.25.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for 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%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WM. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

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.