New England Research & Management Inc. Raises Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.39.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7 %

WM stock opened at $209.93 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $212.43 and a 200 day moving average of $211.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.72 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

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.