Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Position Lessened by Edge Wealth Management LLC

Edge Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 76,987 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,217 shares during the period. Waste Management comprises about 3.1% of Edge Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after acquiring an additional 416,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

Waste Management stock opened at $211.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.23. The stock has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.25 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.