FourThought Financial Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 5,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,095,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB increased 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 worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 49,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 7,776 shares during the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 3.2% during the third quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 1,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.94.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 60,460 shares of company stock valued at $13,721,774. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $229.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $213.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $230.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

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.