Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,381 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 55,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,391 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,776,000 after buying an additional 14,003 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 16.2% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 409,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,155,000 after acquiring an additional 57,028 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 56.1% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 46,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,341,000 after purchasing an additional 16,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the second quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 14,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $237.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $218.13 and its 200-day moving average is $225.24. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.97% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.89.

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.