Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 971,012 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,971 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.24% of Waste Management worth $214,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $1,583,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 57,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 50.6% during the second quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. now owns 16,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 5,588 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 268,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,331,000 after purchasing an additional 103,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 8.1% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 95,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,156,000 after buying an additional 7,143 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WM. DZ Bank started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $254.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.77.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $218.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $214.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.39. The company has a market capitalization of $88.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.97%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was 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 $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Company 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.