Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 106.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,133 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,304 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $13,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $206.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $206.63 and a 200 day moving average of $184.43. The firm has a market cap of $82.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.50, for a total transaction of $461,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,080,935.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,507 shares of company stock valued at $4,157,770. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Company 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.