Cornerstone Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $784,486,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $300,594,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $193,955,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 85.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,234,000 after acquiring an additional 720,358 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.83.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $208.05 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $225.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.82. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Waste Management 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.