Amalgamated Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 80,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $17,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 83.9% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,947,000 after buying an additional 1,904 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 72,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,925,000 after buying an additional 2,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 449,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,515,000 after buying an additional 57,046 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC decreased their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

Waste Management Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of WM opened at $203.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $81.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $225.00.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

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.