Raymond James & Associates Buys 8,175 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,031,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,175 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.26% of Waste Management worth $219,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 9,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $2.60 on Friday, hitting $210.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,993. The stock has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $208.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,353,349.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.