Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 261 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Waste Management by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after buying an additional 1,303,466 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $193,955,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,196,000 after acquiring an additional 863,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 85.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,234,000 after purchasing an additional 720,358 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $221.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $211.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.55. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $168.73 and a 1-year high of $226.84. The company has a market capitalization of $88.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

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.