Aldebaran Financial Inc. Has $2.29 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Aldebaran Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for 3.2% of Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at $300,594,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Waste Management by 44.6% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $193,955,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 20,402.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,196,000 after buying an additional 863,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Waste Management by 85.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,234,000 after acquiring an additional 720,358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC reduced 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, June 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.83.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $207.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $83.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.96, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. 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 50 day simple moving average of $206.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 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.