Westover Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 315.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,773 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 26,116.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised 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 worth $137,012,000 after purchasing an additional 504,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 13,927.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $207.16. 899,824 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,669,101. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $83.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.17. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

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.