Savant Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,844 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $37,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 29.7% during the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 4,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.8% during the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.83.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.8 %

Waste Management stock opened at $204.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.68. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.