Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. abrdn plc grew its holdings in Waste Management by 315.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,773 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 26,116.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,680,000 after acquiring an additional 910,418 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 16.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in Waste Management by 128.2% in the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,012,000 after purchasing an additional 504,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $210.25. 66,496 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,653,963. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $209.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.80.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced 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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. 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%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Company 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.