Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Has $13.56 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,000 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $13,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $208.01 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $83.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. 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 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

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.