Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $8,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $210.43 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $208.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase 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 53.00%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.85.

About Waste Management

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.