TCW Group Inc. Acquires 18,960 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,960 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $11,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on WM shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $227.89 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $213.43 and a 200-day moving average of $213.12.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 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.