Waste Management (NYSE:WM) VP Michael Watson Sells 687 Shares of Stock

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) VP Michael Watson sold 687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.79, for a total value of $150,995.73. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 48,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,715,861.45. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4%

Waste Management stock opened at $223.18 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $219.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.58. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The business had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.25%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after purchasing an additional 553,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,856,000 after buying an additional 126,329 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after acquiring an additional 277,250 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth approximately $1,064,206,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $873,276,000 after acquiring an additional 11,688 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Waste Management News

Here are the key news stories impacting Waste Management this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised their price targets for WM (new targets cited in the news ranged roughly from $235 to $270), signaling increased analyst confidence in the company’s outlook and likely supporting buying interest. Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $270.00 Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $250.00
• Positive Sentiment: Highlights from WM’s recent earnings call emphasized healthy cash flow, margin strength and RNG initiatives—operational themes that support medium-term earnings growth and reinforce the rationale behind analyst upgrades. Waste Management Earnings Call Highlights Cash, Margins, RNG
• Neutral Sentiment: Marketing/sponsorship exposure — the WM Phoenix Open Pro‑Am attracted high-profile names, which boosts brand visibility but is unlikely to move fundamentals materially. WM Phoenix Open Pro-Am draws in more big names, including MLB stars and TV favorites
• Negative Sentiment: Numerous senior executives (CFO, COO, multiple SVPs and VPs) disclosed sales on Jan. 30 that trimmed individual holdings by roughly 0.6%–4%. While these appear to be routine monetizations rather than departures, the cluster of insider sales (totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars across filings) can be perceived negatively by some investors. Representative SEC filing: SEC Filing — Johnson Varkey Sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $260.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.