Aldebaran Financial Inc. Raises Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Aldebaran Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for approximately 3.2% of Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth $853,000. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 5,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,937,000 after acquiring an additional 4,628 shares during the period. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $46,377,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. CIBC dropped their target price on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.83.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $207.52 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $206.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.60. The company has a market cap of $83.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management 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.