Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,624,000 after acquiring an additional 16,213 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $784,486,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Waste Management by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $523,581,000 after acquiring an additional 844,298 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,997,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $357,729,000 after acquiring an additional 38,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $345,851,000 after acquiring an additional 17,254 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock traded down $4.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $218.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,533,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,691,124. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $209.68 and its 200 day moving average is $204.19. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at $9,711,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.39.

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.