Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Capital Investment Counsel LLC

Capital Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,310 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 279,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,982,000 after purchasing an additional 7,784 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth approximately $360,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 11,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,522,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DZ Bank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.55.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $231.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.58. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.34.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.59, for a total value of $151,517.10. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 13,376 shares in the company, valued at $2,937,235.84. This trade represents a 4.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.71, for a total value of $151,599.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 83,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,397,636.56. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 44,580 shares of company stock worth $10,198,938 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.