Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 8,764 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 74.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,764 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the second quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the second quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. KWB Wealth increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 3,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total value of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $213.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $86.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $212.08 and its 200 day moving average is $222.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The company had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 51.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. National Bankshares cut their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $243.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.14.

Waste Management 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.