Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 10,719 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 236,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,719 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.06% of Waste Management worth $47,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.72.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WM opened at $209.43 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.28. 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 cap of $84.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $183.00 and a twelve month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.