Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stake Cut by Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 423 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 82,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,859,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 11,694 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,100,000 after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 234,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,962 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $206.83. The company had a trading volume of 261,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,661,334. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.17. The firm has a market cap of $82.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Waste Management 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.