Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 585,829 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,594 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.15% of Waste Management worth $128,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $1,022,916,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 218.3% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after acquiring an additional 939,455 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Waste Management by 163.7% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,317,000 after acquiring an additional 869,453 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after acquiring an additional 774,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 3,209.2% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 681,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,466,000 after acquiring an additional 660,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $216.13 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The company has a market capitalization of $86.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

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.