Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 251 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $220.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.55. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $226.84.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.87%.

Waste Management 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.