Bluesphere Advisors LLC Buys 281 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bluesphere Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. abrdn plc raised its position in Waste Management by 315.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,773 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 26,116.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after buying an additional 910,418 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after acquiring an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in Waste Management by 128.2% in the 3rd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,012,000 after acquiring an additional 504,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after acquiring an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of WM traded up $1.94 on Monday, hitting $212.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 603,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,657,738. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $208.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,641.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Waste Management news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.21.

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.