UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Decreases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 4,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.8% in the second quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 1,362 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.83.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $204.74 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $225.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.68. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $82.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. 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.