Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 539 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. abrdn plc grew its stake in Waste Management by 315.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,165,000 after buying an additional 1,106,773 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,680,000 after buying an additional 910,418 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Waste Management by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after buying an additional 776,491 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 128.2% during the 3rd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,012,000 after purchasing an additional 504,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.21.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $2.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $210.07. 1,650,643 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,671,134. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $208.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.87. The firm has a market cap of $84.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

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.