First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Increases Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,647 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 829 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,466 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Waste Management by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after buying an additional 243,900 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 11.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $473,047,000 after acquiring an additional 221,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of WM opened at $212.75 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.95 and a 52-week high of $225.00. The company has a market capitalization of $85.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.89.

Waste Management Company 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.