Sapient Capital LLC Cuts Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 79,578 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,244 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $18,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,820,921,000 after buying an additional 281,456 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,371,000 after acquiring an additional 117,476 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,022,916,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,276,000 after purchasing an additional 11,688 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets. Barclays increased its target from $270 to $277 and maintained an Overweight rating, while Stifel Nicolaus raised its target from $252 to $261 and reiterated Buy. These targets imply substantial upside and reinforce the bullish case for WM. Barclays and Stifel analyst actions
• Positive Sentiment: RBC also lifted its price target from $240 to $244, citing a more favorable valuation outlook, although it retained a Sector Perform rating. RBC raises Waste Management price target
• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter profitability was better than expected. WM reported adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, above the $1.98 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion. Management highlighted margin expansion, technology investments and progress integrating its healthcare-services operations. WM Q2 earnings call highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank maintained its Hold rating. The decision suggests analysts see balanced upside and downside risks following the earnings report. Scotiabank maintains Hold rating
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue expectations and operating volumes remain concerns. WM’s full-year revenue outlook of approximately $26.38 billion was slightly below analysts’ expectations, and softer collection volumes could offset margin gains and integration benefits. WM Q2 business review
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group issued a bearish FY2026 earnings forecast, adding a cautious counterpoint to the more optimistic target increases from other firms. Erste Group bearish forecast

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $258.33.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $226.89 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $225.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.66. The stock has a market cap of $90.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.54%.

About Waste Management

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.