Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

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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 February 9, 2022 was 8,099.

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.


	12/31/16		12/31/17		12/31/18		12/31/19		12/31/20		12/31/21
Waste Management, Inc.	$	100	$	124	$	131	$	171	$	180	$	259
S&P 500 Index	$	100	$	122	$	116	$	153	$	181	$	233
Dow Jones Waste & Disposal Services Index	$	100	$	117	$	117	$	158	$	169	$	236

The Company repurchases shares of its common stock as part of capital allocation programs authorized by our Board of Directors. During 2021, we allocated an aggregate of $1.35 billion in cash under our accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) agreements. As of December 31, 2021, we had received 8.7 million shares with a weighted average price per share of $146.61. In January 2022, we completed our ASR agreement executed in December 2021, at which time we received an additional 0.4 million shares. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

The following table summarizes common stock repurchases made during the fourth quarter of 2021 (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	—	$	—		—	$	350 million
November 1 — 30	—	$	—		—	$	350 million
December 1 — 31	2.2	$	159.32	(a)	2.2	$	1.5 billion	(b)
Total	2.2	$	159.32		2.2

(a)

In August 2021, we entered into an ASR agreement to repurchase $500 million of our common stock. At the beginning of the repurchase period, we delivered $500 million in cash and received 2.7 million shares based on a stock price of $147.27. The ASR agreement completed in the fourth quarter of 2021, at which time we received 0.5 million additional shares based on a final weighted average price of $154.72.

In December 2021, we executed an ASR agreement to repurchase $350 million of our common stock. At the beginning of the repurchase period, we delivered $350 million in cash and received 1.7 million shares based on a stock price of $160.67. The ASR agreement completed in January 2022, at which time we received 0.4 million additional shares based on a final weighted average price of $160.33.

The “Average Price Paid per Share” in the table represents the final weighted average price per share paid for the ASR agreement executed in August 2021 and the initial price per share paid for the ASR agreement executed in December 2021.

(b)	We announced in December 2021 that the Board of Directors has authorized up to $1.5 billion in future share repurchases.

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.

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