Leavell Investment Management Inc. Has $6.78 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 518 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $224.08 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $168.73 and a 1-year high of $226.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $89.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $210.21 and a 200-day moving average of $209.26.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued 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 45.87%.

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.