Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 99,399 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Parnassus Investments LLC trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,613,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 99,399 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises approximately 2.9% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 1.39% of Waste Management worth $1,239,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% in the second quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 4,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. KWB Wealth lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 3,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 5,856 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $254.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.77.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $220.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $213.84 and a 200-day moving average of $219.62. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.59.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total value of $299,542.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.