Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $784,486,000. Mirova US LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 26,116.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after purchasing an additional 844,298 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth about $117,299,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $1.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $208.93. 301,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,711,331. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.61.

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.