Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 447 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $859,624,000 after purchasing an additional 16,213 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Waste Management by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,957,000 after buying an additional 1,303,466 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Waste Management by 11.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 85.6% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,234,000 after buying an additional 720,358 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,521,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $272,491,000 after acquiring an additional 5,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $204.10 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $208.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.68. The company has a market cap of $81.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. The firm’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 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.83.

Waste Management 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.