Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Aspiriant LLC

Aspiriant LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third 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 during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 32.1% during 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 grew its position in Waste Management by 138.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $212.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.93 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.27.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Argus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.72.

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.