First Merchants Corp Has $888,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Merchants Corp lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its holdings in Waste Management by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 342,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $69,168,000 after acquiring an additional 82,048 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Waste Management by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 161,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,512,000 after purchasing an additional 14,976 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 191,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,086,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the period. Finally, Aries Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 11,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,381,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $227.80 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.96.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.