Strs Ohio Cuts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,309 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $32,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 47.0% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladwyn Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Waste Management

Here are the key news stories impacting Waste Management this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $246 and kept an “overweight” rating, signaling confidence in WM’s upside and providing immediate support for the stock. Wells Fargo raises price target
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks previews expect Q4 revenue up ~14.5% to $6.4B and EPS around $1.95, saying Collection and Healthcare segments are driving growth — a beat vs. cyclic worries would likely lift the shares. WM Gears Up to Post Q4 Earnings: Here’s What Investors Should Know
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat/other publications continue to profile WM as a defensive, dividend-backed infrastructure play (long runway from landfill/regulatory moats), which supports interest from income-focused investors. Waste Management company overview (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks deeper analysis explores metric-level estimates (like volumes, pricing, fuel and benefit impacts) that will drive Q4 results — useful for parsing beats/misses beyond headline EPS. What Analyst Projections for Key Metrics Reveal About WM Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market commentary (TipRanks, Zacks market wrap) highlights WM’s resilience and modest upside in technical studies — these pieces can attract momentum flows but are not fundamental catalysts. TipRanks sector piece
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank reiterated a “Sector Perform” stance (keeps coverage steady) — a neutral signal that tempers extreme bullishness but doesn’t add fresh negative pressure. Scotiabank reiterates Sector Perform
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank/other outlets have also been reported as downgrading WM in recent headlines, which creates conflicting analyst signals and can pressure sentiment ahead of results. Scotiabank downgrades Waste Management (MSN)
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays/other reports issued pessimistic price forecasts — coupled with WM’s prior quarterly slight EPS/revenue miss, these bearish calls could weigh on shares if the Q4 print or guidance disappoints. Barclays issues pessimistic forecast

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WM shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $262.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $238.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total value of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,112.40. The trade was a 8.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $229.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 51.97%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.