MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 218 shares during the quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 83.9% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 164,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,422,000 after buying an additional 11,268 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 68,133.3% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 2,044 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 192,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,556,000 after buying an additional 46,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vectors Research Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $205.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $207.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.63. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, June 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.83.

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.