Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $210.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,282,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,677,830. The company has a market capitalization of $84.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.80. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Ten research 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. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.