Syntax Research Inc. Raises Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Syntax Research Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 502.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,086 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,081 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up 1.7% of Syntax Research Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Syntax Research Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the third 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 buying an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised 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 worth $820,539,000 after buying an additional 243,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WM. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned 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 target price of $230.72.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $3.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $205.43. 1,944,833 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,620,689. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.62 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $217.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

About Waste Management

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.