HC Advisors LLC Sells 520 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

HC Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. HC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 26,095.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $442,038,000 after buying an additional 1,902,081 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $333,089,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $205,506,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Waste Management by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $806,509,000 after buying an additional 465,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $73,282,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.1%

Waste Management stock opened at $224.29 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.69 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The stock has a market cap of $90.35 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% 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 insiders.

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.