First National Trust Co Trims Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First National Trust Co trimmed its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 41,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,161 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $8,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 3.1% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.9% during the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 4,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Aries Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 8,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $223.60 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $89.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.73 and a fifty-two week high of $226.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $210.21 and a 200-day moving average of $209.25.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WM shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

About Waste Management

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.