Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 172 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 8,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $344,000. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 8,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 3,297 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $212.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $213.57 and its 200-day moving average is $211.27. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.93 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 45.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.