Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Has $11.65 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 16.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 54,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,126 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $838,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 164,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,422,000 after acquiring an additional 11,268 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 68,133.3% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Waste Management by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 192,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 46,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vectors Research Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $205.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $207.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $225.00. The firm has a market cap of $82.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.