Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $7.62 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,294 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the third quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.39.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7 %

Waste Management stock opened at $209.93 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $184.72 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

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.