Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 774,255 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Waste Management worth $8,487,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter worth $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WM. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays lowered their target price on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $234.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.21. The company has a market capitalization of $94.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.58. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.71, for a total value of $239,638.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,950,205.39. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 689 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.32, for a total transaction of $151,111.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,316,791.88. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 44,580 shares of company stock worth $10,198,938 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.