Wayfinding Financial LLC Invests $240,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. CIBC increased their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $226.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $222.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 37.93%. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

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.