Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,453 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $14,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in Waste Management by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.94.

Waste Management Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $224.33 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $239.32. The stock has a market cap of $90.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $227.14 and a 200 day moving average of $217.91.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

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.