Marble Wealth LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $833,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,566,508,000 after buying an additional 553,605 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,371,000 after buying an additional 117,476 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,613,000 after buying an additional 277,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,022,916,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,276,000 after purchasing an additional 11,688 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.67.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,177,625.92. This trade represents a 7.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $29,677.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,279,294.11. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,494 shares of company stock valued at $3,054,863 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $217.98 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $223.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.42.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.945 dividend. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.70%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.