Garde Capital Inc. Invests $113,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 532 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $113,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 29.7% during the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.0% in the first quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.4% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.7% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WM. Truist Financial cut their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,793,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,617,543. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00. The firm has a market cap of $83.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $208.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.50.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s payout ratio 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.