Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Holdings Raised by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $213.15. The company had a trading volume of 2,699,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,670,692. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $85.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,242 shares of company stock worth $5,929,355. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

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.