Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 286.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 421 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in 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. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Waste Management by 67.2% in the third 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 during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after buying an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Waste Management by 138.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $149,168,000 after acquiring an additional 416,579 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $224.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.04, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.48 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,055 shares of company stock worth $2,674,780. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

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.