Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 282,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,675 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Waste Management worth $60,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FCA Corp TX boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 5,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE WM opened at $207.89 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $207.24 and a 200-day moving average of $198.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $83.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.61.

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.