Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 170,492 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 78.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 47,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 170,492 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $9,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $228.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $215.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.69. The company has a market capitalization of $91.60 billion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.