Harfst & Associates Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Harfst & Associates Inc. has acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc., purchasing 2,906 shares valued at approximately $673,000 during the first quarter.
• Waste Management reported strong quarterly earnings, with $1.92 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and a revenue of $6.43 billion, up 19% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors control 80.40% of Waste Management's stock, reflecting significant interest from major financial entities.

Harfst & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,906 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $673,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 442,109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $102,353,000 after purchasing an additional 33,346 shares in the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 49,577 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,478,000 after purchasing an additional 11,115 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 109,696 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,396,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 2,181 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $213,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $0.65 on Friday, hitting $226.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,371,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,657,967. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $91.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.69 and a 52 week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The business's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.35.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.