Vest Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 31.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $859,624,000 after acquiring an additional 16,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $784,486,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Waste Management by 44.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,466 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Waste Management by 85.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,234,000 after buying an additional 720,358 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,521,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $272,491,000 after buying an additional 5,103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $207.86 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $225.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $209.29 and a 200 day moving average of $208.76. The company has a market capitalization of $83.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.83.

Waste Management Company 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.