Veritable L.P. Sells 1,571 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Veritable L.P. reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,571 shares during the quarter. Veritable L.P.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.7% in the second quarter. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1,459.9% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 2,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Simmons Bank lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 12.5% in the first quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 2,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 55,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 78.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 4,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $716,724.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,499,212. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $925,876.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,573,336. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 4,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $716,724.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 177,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,499,212. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WM opened at $171.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $148.31 and a one year high of $173.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $160.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.27 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 11.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. Citigroup decreased their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $202.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Management from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Waste Management from $179.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.77.

About Waste Management

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.