Ethic Inc. Buys 3,629 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,629 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 283,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,633,000 after buying an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 592,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $137,108,000 after buying an additional 24,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value 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 approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $226.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.69 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.