Old Port Advisors Decreases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Old Port Advisors cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.0% of Old Port Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 20,402.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,196,000 after purchasing an additional 863,846 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 248.5% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 984,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,092,000 after purchasing an additional 702,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $1.48 on Thursday, reaching $200.31. The company had a trading volume of 244,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,574. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $215.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.68 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The firm has a market cap of $80.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

Waste Management Company 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.