Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 14.7% during Q2, selling 87,274 shares and now holding 504,955 shares valued at $114.68 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their holdings, with Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increasing its stake by 44% and Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increasing it by 54.8% during the same quarter.
• Waste Management announced a quarterly dividend of $0.825, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 1.5%, with the payment to be made on September 26th.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 504,955 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 87,274 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.13% of Waste Management worth $114,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Waste Management by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,193,000 after acquiring an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its position in Waste Management by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 892 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Waste Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 38,262 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,721,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 179,212 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,163,000 after acquiring an additional 48,260 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $272.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $255.17.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3%

Waste Management stock traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $216.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,835,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,417,943. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.69 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $226.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 48.96%.

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.