Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Acquired by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 44.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,780 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the second quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. KWB Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 3,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Waste Management from $234.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. National Bankshares lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $243.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.18.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $217.84 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $213.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.72. The company has a market cap of $87.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.59. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total value of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,373,112.40. The trade was a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management 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.