Focus Financial Network Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Focus Financial Network Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,860 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trium Capital LLP grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 18.6% during the first quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 20,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,284,000 after buying an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Waste Management by 417.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. CIBC boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.05.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $213.99 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.34 and a twelve month high of $225.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $209.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.83. The firm has a market cap of $85.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Waste Management 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.