Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 31,165 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 208,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 31,165 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up 0.9% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $42,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 49,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,777,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 43,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,878,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Parthenon LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.06.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.36 on Friday, reaching $239.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,767,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,369,899. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.33. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $95.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company had revenue of $6.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.9450 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.