Martingale Asset Management L P Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 20,083 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $20,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WM. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WM stock opened at $219.12 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $222.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management 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.