Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Dnca Finance

Dnca Finance lessened its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 71.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,300 shares during the quarter. Dnca Finance’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,662,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,617,866,000 after purchasing an additional 292,868 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,856,000 after purchasing an additional 126,329 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,233,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,996 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,064,206,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,067,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $941,709,000 after buying an additional 70,907 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $213.61 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $212.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.70. The company has a market cap of $86.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Baird R W upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $234.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $254.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.14.

About Waste Management

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.