Farmers Trust Co. Acquires New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Farmers Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Waste Management by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 312,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,990,000 after purchasing an additional 48,549 shares during the period. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 18.6% during the first quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 20,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,284,000 after buying an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.8% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 754 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 240.6% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 24,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,197,000 after buying an additional 17,225 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $208.09. The stock had a trading volume of 985,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,652,823. The business’s fifty day moving average is $206.74 and its 200-day moving average is $208.55. 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 cap of $83.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.90 and a 1-year high of $225.00.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. Finally, CIBC dropped their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.89.

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.