The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 560 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 390,480 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 560 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $81,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.1% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 3.9% during the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 3.1% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.9% during the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.1% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $228.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $91.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $214.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.94.

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.