Milestone Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 26.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,559 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Trium Capital LLP lifted its position in Waste Management by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after acquiring an additional 3,029 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was 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. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE WM opened at $209.93 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $184.72 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $212.43 and a 200-day moving average of $211.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $84.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.