Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,611 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 17.3% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 85,184 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,721,000 after acquiring an additional 12,585 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.4% during the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at $2,863,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays cut their price target on Waste Management from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $234.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. CIBC reduced their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $219.83 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $88.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $211.30 and a 200-day moving average of $221.43.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The firm had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 51.97%.

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.