AE Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 39.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,529 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,673,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 343,694 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,556,000 after acquiring an additional 9,683 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 107,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of WM opened at $204.10 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $225.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.69. The firm has a market cap of $81.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.