Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Reduces Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,929 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $13,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Bey Douglas LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Bey Douglas LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 6,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.89.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.3%

Waste Management stock opened at $219.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $228.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 53.54%.

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.