Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $17,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Waste Management by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 65,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,300,000 after acquiring an additional 3,831 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 59,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,050,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $211.79 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.56 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

About Waste Management

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.