Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Sells 2,596 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 304,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,596 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up 1.5% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned 0.08% of Waste Management worth $70,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,566,508,000 after buying an additional 553,605 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,921,000 after acquiring an additional 281,456 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,371,000 after acquiring an additional 117,476 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after acquiring an additional 277,250 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,022,916,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. Weiss Ratings downgraded Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.20.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM traded up $1.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $233.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,033,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,243,656. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.93. The stock has a market cap of $93.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 54.70%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.