75,906 Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 226,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75,906 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.06% of Waste Management worth $46,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Markowski Investments purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the second quarter worth about $41,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $236.50 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.59. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.47 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $94.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.97% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.9450 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $771,629.10. This represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WM. Wolfe Research began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce dropped their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Waste Management from $277.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $232.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.04.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.