TCW Group Inc. Purchases 960 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

TCW Group Inc. increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $9,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 18.0% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 35,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,899,000 after acquiring an additional 5,403 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 23,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 19,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,248,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM traded down $1.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $205.40. 1,536,923 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,709,305. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $208.93 and its 200 day moving average is $207.06. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

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.