Diversify Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 24.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,678 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,466 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Waste Management by 6.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,539,000 after acquiring an additional 243,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Waste Management by 11.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Waste Management from $224.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.83.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.7 %

WM traded down $1.60 on Wednesday, hitting $217.51. The company had a trading volume of 526,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,616,270. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.03 and a 12-month high of $225.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $209.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.