Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 38,828 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,997,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,828 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Waste Management worth $357,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 4.1% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 128,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,650,000 after acquiring an additional 5,255 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 146,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,401,000 after purchasing an additional 10,152 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.1% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBT Bank N A NY lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 2,286 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,262,034.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. HSBC lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $210.52. The company had a trading volume of 309,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,662,241. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $84.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $209.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.80.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 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 issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

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.