Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “WM.” The number of holders of record of our common stock on January 31, 2023 was 7,847.
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The graph below shows the relative investment performance of Waste Management, Inc. common stock, the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Waste & Disposal Services Index for the last five years, assuming reinvestment of dividends at date of payment into the common stock. The graph is presented pursuant to SEC rules and is not meant to be an indication of our future performance.
12/31/17
12/31/18
12/31/19
12/31/20
12/31/21
12/31/22
Waste Management, Inc.
$
100
$
105
$
137
$
145
$
208
$
199
S&P 500 Index
$
100
$
96
$
126
$
149
$
192
$
157
Dow Jones Waste & Disposal Services Index
$
100
$
100
$
135
$
144
$
201
$
191
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The Company repurchases shares of its common stock as part of capital allocation programs authorized by our Board of Directors. During 2022, we repurchased an aggregate of $1.5 billion of our common stock under accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) agreements and open market transactions, which equated to 9.4 million shares with a weighted average price per share of $160.32, inclusive of per-share commissions. In addition, in December 2021, we executed an ASR agreement that completed in January 2022, at which time we received 0.4 million shares. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information. We announced in December 2022 that the Board of Directors has authorized up to $1.5 billion in future share repurchases. This new authorization replaces our prior $1.5 billion authorization that was fully utilized in 2022.
The following table summarizes common stock repurchases made during the fourth quarter of 2022 (shares in millions):
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Total Number of
Total
Shares Purchased as
Approximate Maximum
Number of
Average
Part of Publicly
Dollar Value of Shares that
Shares
Price Paid
Announced Plans or
May Yet be Purchased Under
Period
Purchased
per Share
Programs
the Plans or Programs
October 1 — 31
0.1
$
159.79
(a)
0.1
$
417 million
November 1 — 30
2.1
$
161.19
(b)
2.1
$
84 million
December 1 — 31
0.5
$
161.19
(b)
0.5
$
1.5 billion
Total
2.7
$
161.13
2.7
(a) In October 2022, we repurchased 125,167 shares of our common stock in open market transactions in compliance with Rule 10b5-1 and Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act for $20 million, inclusive of per-share commissions, at a weighted average price of $159.79.
(b) In November 2022, we delivered $417 million cash and received 2.1 million shares pursuant to an Accelerated Share Repurchase (“ASR”) agreement executed in late October 2022. In December 2022, we completed the ASR agreement and received 0.5 million additional shares based on a final weighted average price of $161.19. The “Average Price Paid per Share” in the table represents the final weighted average price per share paid for the ASR agreement.
Any future share repurchases will be made at the discretion of management and will depend on various factors including our net earnings, financial condition and cash required for future business plans, growth and acquisitions.
Item 6. [Reserved]
None.