Eastern Bank Has $33.73 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,584 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $33,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its position in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $206.93. 815,094 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,657,728. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.33. The stock has a market cap of $83.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.17 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.