Donaldson Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 110,208.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,778,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $749,659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,774,218 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $658,370,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 153.4% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,694,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236,280 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,370,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 17,627.7% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,401,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $140,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,296 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,816,516. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $33,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,441. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM traded down $0.01 on Monday, hitting $205.36. 1,401,472 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,690,732. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $205.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.54. The firm has a market cap of $82.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. HSBC cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.85.

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.