Synovus Financial Corp Sells 2,051 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Synovus Financial Corp lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 86,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,051 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $17,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Trium Capital LLP increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% during the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after acquiring an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Waste Management by 417.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after buying an additional 437,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in Waste Management by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $214.47 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $173.01 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $217.55 and its 200 day moving average is $211.37.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

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.