First Horizon Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 13.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,989,000 after buying an additional 4,015 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 89,647 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,611,000 after buying an additional 39,714 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 7.3% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 7,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,499,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $219.05 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.73 and a 12-month high of $226.84. The company has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $212.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.86.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.