Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 14,509 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 290,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,509 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $59,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $12,458,000 after buying an additional 6,391 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,776,000 after buying an additional 14,003 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Waste Management by 16.2% during the 1st 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 grew its holdings in Waste Management by 56.1% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 46,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,341,000 after acquiring an additional 16,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 2nd 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 during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $244.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $97.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $200.57 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $221.00 and a 200-day moving average of $225.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.00, for a total value of $121,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,713 shares in the company, valued at $2,108,546. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value 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 $771,629.10. The trade was a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $269.00 to $259.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $275.00 to $241.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $263.00 target price (down from $264.00) on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.04.

Waste Management Company 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.