Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Position Cut by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $8,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 28,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 57.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Waste Management by 4.8% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.4% during the third quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 128,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,647,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 170.7% during the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 4,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 2,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

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 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 at this hyperlink. 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 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 at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $210.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.18, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $208.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.00%.

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.