FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 2,000 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 29.7% in the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised 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. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 4,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.8% in the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Truist Financial reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.83.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $208.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $83.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $209.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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