Haverford Trust Co Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Haverford Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at $122,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Waste Management by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 456,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $97,397,000 after purchasing an additional 67,582 shares during the period. Planning Directions Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,875 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $224.78 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.73 and a 12-month high of $226.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $210.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.33.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Waste Management Profile

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.