Zimmer Partners LP Acquires 25,000 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 38.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 62.9% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% during 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. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $222.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.15 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $216.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.09.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 1st. Argus lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.