Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.9% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 62,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,520,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Waste Management by 4.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 128,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 5.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,934,010.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $0.72 on Friday, reaching $207.88. 2,237,956 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,702,229. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $208.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.05.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.