PFG Investments LLC Purchases 77 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 43,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,000 after buying an additional 14,664 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. MWA Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $670,000. Finally, Herold Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 189.3% in the 3rd quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 7,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 5,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $163.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $213.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $199.41 and its 200 day moving average is $178.87.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

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.