Bath Savings Trust Co Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bath Savings Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,174,000 after acquiring an additional 66,816 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $859,624,000 after acquiring an additional 16,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $784,486,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $619,797,000 after acquiring an additional 90,129 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $207.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $83.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.00. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

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.