Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Bought by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,036 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Waste Management worth $66,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth $41,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $234.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $222.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial set a $260.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.71, for a total transaction of $239,638.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,950,205.39. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 428 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.63, for a total value of $94,001.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,224 shares in the company, valued at $2,245,497.12. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 44,580 shares of company stock worth $10,198,938 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Profile

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.