Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 39,268 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 119.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 72,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,268 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $228.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $232.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.71. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.70%.

More Waste Management News

Here are the key news stories impacting Waste Management this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst boosts from high-conviction firms — TD Cowen raised its price target to $275 and keeps a buy rating, and Barclays lifted its target to $270 with an overweight rating. Those upgrades signal analyst confidence and imply double?digit upside from current levels. TD Cowen raise Barclays raise
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights WM as a strong growth stock based on style scores and fundamentals — a positive signal for growth-oriented investors and fund flows. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Modest price target increase from RBC to $240 with a “sector perform” rating — supportive but conservative, reflecting limited near-term conviction (small upside). RBC note
• Neutral Sentiment: Market research on multi-layer film recycling forecasts strong long?term growth (9.2% CAGR to 2035), which supports waste/recycling industry tailwinds but is unlikely to move WM stock immediately. Market report
• Neutral Sentiment: Benzinga summary: analysts revised forecasts after WM’s Q1 (EPS beat, revenue miss). The mixed nature of results leaves room for differing analyst actions and contributes to intra-day volatility. Analyst revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target from $273 to $268 (still overweight) — a downward tweak that reduces near-term upside expectations. Wells Fargo trim
• Negative Sentiment: Peer strength: Waste Connections (WCN) reported beat-and-raise style results and noted liquidity considerations, highlighting competitive momentum in the sector that could put pressure on WM’s market-share narrative. Investors may reallocate toward peers showing stronger near-term top-line momentum. WCN article

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,084,739.94. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $29,677.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,279,294.11. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 92,616 shares of company stock worth $21,849,115 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WM. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.67.

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.