Candriam S.C.A. Sells 69,263 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 581,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 69,263 shares during the period. Waste Management comprises 0.7% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.14% of Waste Management worth $128,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,583,000. Guerra Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc now owns 9,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,996,000 after buying an additional 3,371 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,092,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 57,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,064,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Finally, GPM Growth Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 50.6% during the second quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. now owns 16,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 5,588 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial set a $260.00 price target on Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.55.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $226.99 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $220.19 and a 200-day moving average of $219.14. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.45 billion, a PE ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.57, for a total transaction of $48,305.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,048,588.10. This represents a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 689 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.32, for a total value of $151,111.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 56,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,316,791.88. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 6,806 shares of company stock worth $1,490,204 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.