Diversified Trust Co Increases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 144.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,521 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $911,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at $1,556,000. Compass Ion Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at $236,000. Breakwater Capital Group purchased a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at $225,000. Optas LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at $213,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $209.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $83.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $208.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.61.

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.