Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,700 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,349,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 110,208.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,778,550 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $749,659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,774,218 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $658,370,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 153.4% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,694,489 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $640,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236,280 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,370,481 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,156,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 17,627.7% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,401,200 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $140,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,296 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WM stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $206.70. 2,592,832 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,698,936. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The company's 50-day moving average price is $203.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 53.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $33,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,441. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.