Aljian Capital Management LLC Takes $435,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% during the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 4,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $217.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.73 and a 52-week high of $226.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.71.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Argus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.