Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $821,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Reliant Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13.7% during the second quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 24,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,693,000 after acquiring an additional 2,994 shares during the period. GPM Growth Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. now owns 16,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 5,588 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. GWN Securities Inc. now owns 31,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,311,000 after purchasing an additional 10,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 51,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,870,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Waste Management from $252.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, CIBC lowered their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.95.

Waste Management Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of WM opened at $197.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.02 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $218.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Waste Management has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 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 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 51.97%.

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.