BLB&B Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $9,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Waste Management by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter valued at about $394,000. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter worth about $216,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % 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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $224.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.43. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $187.48 and a one year high of $230.39. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

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.