Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 31,995 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 31,995 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $55,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Independent Wealth Network Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 11.3% in the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Waste Management by 188.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 172,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,741,000 after purchasing an additional 112,642 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 89.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 47,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,032,000 after buying an additional 22,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $113,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. William Blair began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WM opened at $228.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $91.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.73 and a 52-week high of $230.39. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $214.21 and its 200-day moving average is $210.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Waste Management’s dividend 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.