Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $70.67 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 394,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,000 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.10% of Waste Management worth $70,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc lifted its stake in Waste Management by 315.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,773 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waste Management by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Waste Management by 128.2% during the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $137,012,000 after acquiring an additional 504,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after acquiring an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.21.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $210.10 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.