Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stock: True Freedom Investing LLC Boosts Position

True Freedom Investing LLC lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,743 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,249 shares during the period. True Freedom Investing LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $322,479,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $146,053,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,849,981,000 after buying an additional 535,079 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Waste Management by 2.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,008,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,013,831,000 after purchasing an additional 507,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Waste Management by 90.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 806,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,250,000 after acquiring an additional 382,079 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WM shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Waste Management from $244.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.89.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $233.33 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.38. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.97%. The firm had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.9450 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.61%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,629.10. This represents a 28.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.