Bessemer Securities LLC Lowers Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bessemer Securities LLC decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 97,158.0% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 454,561,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,830,023,000 after purchasing an additional 454,093,937 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth $29,700,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 110,208.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,778,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $749,659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,774,218 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $658,370,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $304,180,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.34% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $171.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.05. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.31 and a 1 year high of $173.71. The company has a market cap of $68.95 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.02. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 11.47%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $177.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. UBS Group raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $179.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $925,876.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 171,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,573,336. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 5,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $925,876.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 171,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,573,336. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 4,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $716,724.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,499,212. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.