Beta Wealth Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Beta Wealth Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 40.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,817 shares during the period. Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth about $325,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,847,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 4.5% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,657 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 6.6% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $208.97 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $212.87 and a 200 day moving average of $224.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.62.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 10.35%.Waste Management’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Waste Management from $264.00 to $254.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial set a $260.00 price target on Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.25.

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.