HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 268,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,595 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $55,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,196,000 after purchasing an additional 863,846 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 248.5% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 984,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,092,000 after purchasing an additional 702,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.94.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $225.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.15 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $216.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.00. The stock has a market cap of $90.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Activity

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

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.