Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Lowers Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd reduced its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 18.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,070 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 24,961 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Waste Management were worth $23,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 3.9% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 3.1% in the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.9% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.1% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.0 %

WM traded up $2.26 on Tuesday, hitting $227.91. 495,530 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,611,951. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $228.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.32%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. William Blair started coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.11.

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.