Waste Management Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:WM)

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 3,004 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the average volume of 2,000 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,629.10. The trade was a 28.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 7.8% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 233,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,041,000 after purchasing an additional 16,917 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 74,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,571,000 after buying an additional 6,456 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 22.4% in the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 36,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,205,000 after purchasing an additional 6,726 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.3% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 987,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $220,036,000 after purchasing an additional 40,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.89.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $1.62 on Friday, reaching $211.71. The stock had a trading volume of 539,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,154,463. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $226.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 53.54%.

Waste Management Company Profile

WM, Inc, formerly known as Waste Management, Inc, is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, helping manage everyday refuse as well as certain specialized waste streams.

Its operations include curbside and commercial waste collection, transfer stations, recycling facilities, landfills and waste-related energy services. WM also develops renewable natural gas and electricity projects that capture landfill gas for use as an energy source.