FourThought Financial Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $207.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,237,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,229. The company has a market cap of $83.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $208.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. Raymond James increased their price objective on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.