Drake & Associates LLC Acquires 55 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Drake & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after buying an additional 22,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after acquiring an additional 500,701 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $206.50. The company had a trading volume of 394,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,676,186. The firm has a market cap of $82.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $205.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $33,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,461 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,441. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $33,485.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 56,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,219,441. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

Waste Management 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.