GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 4,607 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after purchasing an additional 553,605 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,921,000 after purchasing an additional 281,456 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.3% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 117,476 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after buying an additional 277,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $1,022,916,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.2%

WM stock opened at $222.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $248.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.88. The company has a market capitalization of $89.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.45.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 54.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. Weiss Ratings downgraded Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. 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 note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.30.

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.