Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 667 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $27,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at about $325,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 9.3% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of WM opened at $215.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $86.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.99, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.69 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $221.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $227.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%.The business’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $262.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Erste Group Bank cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $252.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

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.