Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $216,000 Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 242.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 82,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 446,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,084,000 after purchasing an additional 9,797 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Waste Management by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 91,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,467,000 after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.4% in the fourth 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. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $227.89 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $213.43 and its 200-day moving average is $213.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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 $235.94.

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.