American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 12,585 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 17.3%, acquiring an additional 12,585 shares, bringing its total ownership to 85,184 shares valued at approximately $19.72 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Aberdeen Group plc, have also boosted their stakes in Waste Management, indicating strong investor confidence as institutional ownership reaches 80.40%.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $254.35 for Waste Management shares, with ratings including two "Strong Buy," twelve "Buy," and eight "Hold" ratings.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,184 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,585 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $19,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $822,588,000 after buying an additional 224,279 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $806,509,000 after acquiring an additional 465,789 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,633,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $531,456,000 after purchasing an additional 177,398 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,462,903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $570,108,000 after purchasing an additional 36,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,181,924 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $505,137,000 after purchasing an additional 29,715 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $225.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,466,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,838,790. The stock has a market cap of $90.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $228.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $199.69 and a one year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $254.35.

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.