Creative Planning Decreases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Creative Planning lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 134,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,440 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $28,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, June 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.83.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $205.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $82.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.62. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio 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.