PFG Investments LLC Acquires 292 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $208.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $83.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.82. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

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.