Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stock Position Lessened by Parnassus Investments LLC

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 5.5% during the first quarter, selling 347,833 shares and holding approximately 5.9 million shares afterward, representing about 3.3% of its portfolio.
• Waste Management's latest quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting an EPS of $1.92 and revenues of $6.43 billion, marking a 19% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.5%, highlighting a payout ratio of approximately 49%.

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,924,176 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 347,833 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for 3.3% of Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 1.47% of Waste Management worth $1,371,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 30.4% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,233,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,996 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,067,680 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $941,709,000 after buying an additional 70,907 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 177,398 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,462,903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $570,108,000 after buying an additional 36,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,181,924 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $505,137,000 after buying an additional 29,715 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. CIBC boosted 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.35.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $2.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $226.69. 1,527,535 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,640,870. The business's fifty day moving average is $228.48 and its 200 day moving average is $229.80. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.69 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Waste Management's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

About Waste Management

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.