BNP Paribas Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

BNP Paribas lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 326 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trium Capital LLP lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 417.3% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WM. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.94.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $228.50 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $214.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $91.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.73 and a 12-month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

Waste Management Company 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.