World Investment Advisors LLC Buys 6,689 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 245.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,689 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after acquiring an additional 12,664 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $820,539,000 after acquiring an additional 243,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $213.20 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $173.01 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $217.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.43. The stock has a market cap of $85.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.