Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,059,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 12.9% in the second quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 55,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,391 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,776,000 after purchasing an additional 14,003 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.2% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 409,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $94,155,000 after buying an additional 57,028 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 56.1% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 46,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,341,000 after buying an additional 16,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in 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 buying an additional 4,803 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,629.10. This represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were 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 owned 8,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,108,546. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial set a $251.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.04.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $237.28 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.68. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $200.57 and a one year high of $248.13. The company has a market cap of $94.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

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.