Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,508 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $33,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth about $325,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth $217,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 13.7% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,001,000 after buying an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Waste Management from $252.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.23.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $221.29 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $89.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.