Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 17,082 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $125,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 283,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,633,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 24,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Melius started coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.35.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.8%

WM stock opened at $235.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $94.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.10. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.69 and a 52 week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

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.