Argyle Capital Management Inc. Has $2.82 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,275 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.21.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock traded down $2.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $210.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,993. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $208.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

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.