Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,439 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trium Capital LLP increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% in the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after acquiring an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 18.6% in the first quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 20,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Waste Management by 417.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on WM shares. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:WM opened at $218.45 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.73 and a 12-month high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.