King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 11,091 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 254,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,091 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $51,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $322,479,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $146,053,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,849,981,000 after acquiring an additional 535,079 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,008,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,013,831,000 after acquiring an additional 507,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Waste Management by 90.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 806,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,250,000 after acquiring an additional 382,079 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $240.09 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $200.57 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.9450 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $251.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $275.00 to $241.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Waste Management from $248.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank increased their price objective on Waste Management from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $232.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.00, for a total transaction of $121,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,108,546. The trade was a 5.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc., doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure. WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.