Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 587 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,370,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,156,281,000 after buying an additional 1,718,449 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,024,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,099,729,000 after acquiring an additional 34,007 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,728,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $935,111,000 after acquiring an additional 45,109 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,112,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,972,000 after purchasing an additional 160,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,700,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce E. Chinn sold 172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.44, for a total transaction of $27,423.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 822 shares in the company, valued at $131,059.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Bruce E. Chinn sold 172 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.44, for a total value of $27,423.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,059.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Pope sold 198 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.40, for a total value of $33,343.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,154.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded down $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $159.61. The stock had a trading volume of 115,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,584,935. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.31 and a 1-year high of $173.71.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.54 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.23 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.42% and a return on equity of 33.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $192.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $202.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.25.

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.