Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) is Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s 9th Largest Position

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,880 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for about 1.6% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned about 0.08% of Waste Management worth $75,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.5%

WM stock opened at $229.35 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $232.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $251.29.

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.