Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by OLD Second National Bank of Aurora

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,566 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Trium Capital LLP increased its holdings in Waste Management by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 20,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,284,000 after buying an additional 3,145 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 417.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5 %

WM stock opened at $224.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $210.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $226.50.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.