Parnassus Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up approximately 2.3% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 1.28% of Waste Management worth $1,063,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $218.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $211.80 and its 200 day moving average is $209.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.73 and a fifty-two week high of $226.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.38, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly 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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

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.