Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 254 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 58.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 689 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.8% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WM. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6 %

WM stock opened at $201.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $80.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.53. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.68 and a 1-year high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

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.