IFP Advisors Inc Acquires 1,360 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $366,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 8.9% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,874,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 140.9% during the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter worth about $643,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of WM opened at $230.59 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $232.44. The company has a market capitalization of $92.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.12%.

Waste Management Company 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.