Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Has $1.35 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 472 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 176,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,707,000 after buying an additional 1,844 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 73,802 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,745,000 after buying an additional 11,123 shares during the period. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 56,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,040,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $204.74 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $225.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.83.

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.