Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Covenant Asset Management LLC

Covenant Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 472 shares during the quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the first quarter worth approximately $67,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 33.9% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the first quarter worth approximately $251,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,138 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 11.5% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after buying an additional 2,367 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.3 %

Waste Management stock opened at $221.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.73 and a fifty-two week high of $226.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $212.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Waste Management Company 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.