AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Takes $344,000 Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 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 increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $227.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $91.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $224.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.51. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 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 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change 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 dividend 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.