Montecito Bank & Trust Buys New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Montecito Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,204 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,064,206,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 15,782.4% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,728,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $395,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,603 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,233,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,996 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its holdings in Waste Management by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,897,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $663,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,258 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Waste Management by 982.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 886,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,692,000 after purchasing an additional 804,285 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $218.25 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.41. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $87.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 51.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bankshares cut their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $243.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.95.

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.