D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 472 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 82,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $16,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 446,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,084,000 after buying an additional 9,797 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Waste Management by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 91,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,467,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 2,823 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,586 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 38,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,707,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $228.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.59. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

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.