Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Has $1.87 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 26.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the second quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% in the second quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. KWB Wealth grew its position in Waste Management by 1.3% during the second quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 3,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.0% during the second quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 47 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 Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3%

WM opened at $219.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.44. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group cut their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, November 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.18.

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.