PGGM Investments Decreases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

PGGM Investments lessened its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,513 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 8.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,407,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,348,000 after buying an additional 22,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.2 %

WM opened at $210.10 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $208.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.21.

Waste Management 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.