Great West Life Assurance Co. Can Sells 8,124 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 278,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,124 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $48,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Steward Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 31.3% in the first quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 260 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, New Hampshire Trust increased its position in Waste Management by 3.1% in the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 2,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on Waste Management from $177.50 to $165.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $192.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Management from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

WM stock opened at $171.18 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $148.31 and a one year high of $173.71. The company has a market capitalization of $68.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $161.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.05. 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 (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly 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. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 34.14%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

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.