Sapient Capital LLC Purchases 877 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 94,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $19,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $225.95 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $211.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.48 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.