USA Financial Formulas Sells 4,599 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

USA Financial Formulas decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,599 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,662,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,617,866,000 after buying an additional 292,868 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,856,000 after purchasing an additional 126,329 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,390,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,232,131,000 after buying an additional 74,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,064,206,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 8.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,596,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $804,809,000 after acquiring an additional 284,733 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WM. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $238.00 price objective for the company. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $260.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.95.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $216.54 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $211.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.09. The firm has a market cap of $87.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total value of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management 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.