Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Newly Acquired by Godsey & Gibb Inc.

Key Points

• Godsey & Gibb Inc. acquired 96,431 shares of Waste Management during the third quarter, valued at approximately $19.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.4% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 13 Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $256.06.
• Waste Management reported quarterly EPS of $2.02, ahead of the $1.98 estimate, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.945 per share, equating to a 1.8% yield.

Godsey & Gibb Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 96,431 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,664,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,557 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $300,163.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% 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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $256.06.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $215.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $86.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50 day moving average is $216.23 and its 200-day moving average is $222.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.9450 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 53.54%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM NYSE: WM, is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. Its customers include residential households, commercial businesses, industrial organizations and municipalities.

The company operates a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and waste-to-energy assets across the United States and Canada. Its services include curbside collection, dumpster and roll-off services, recycling, landfill disposal, organics management and specialized waste solutions.

Founded in 1968, WM has expanded from a traditional waste collection business into a broader provider of environmental and sustainability services.

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