Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 28.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,115 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 283,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 592,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $137,108,000 after purchasing an additional 24,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $229.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.57 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $230.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.69 and a 1 year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.35.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Waste Management

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.