Garde Capital Inc. Purchases New Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 532 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $113,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $784,486,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $300,594,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Waste Management by 44.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,466 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 26,116.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $193,955,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. CIBC cut their target price on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $207.76. 1,793,144 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,617,543. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $208.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $225.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

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.