Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $3,251,000. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $427,000. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 44,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WM. Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $224.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.48 and a 12 month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

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.