Live Oak Investment Partners Takes $967,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $967,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,662,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,617,866,000 after purchasing an additional 292,868 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,856,000 after buying an additional 126,329 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,390,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,232,131,000 after buying an additional 74,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter valued at about $1,064,206,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Waste Management by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,596,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $804,809,000 after purchasing an additional 284,733 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $219.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The company has a market cap of $88.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.59.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $231.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial set a $260.00 price objective on Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Waste Management from $234.00 to $223.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.77.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.