Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 179,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,549 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $37,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 4.4% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,647,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 968,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $201,039,000 after purchasing an additional 14,835 shares during the period. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,823,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $217.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $168.73 and a 1-year high of $226.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $211.61 and its 200 day moving average is $209.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.11.

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.