Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Lowers Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 86.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,793 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at about $325,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 15.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,720,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $398,304,000 after buying an additional 226,083 shares during the period. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 4,405 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $209.08 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The stock has a market cap of $84.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $211.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,373,112.40. The trade was a 8.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $255.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $254.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.14.

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.