Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Blue Chip Partners LLC

Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 51.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,696 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises approximately 2.1% of Blue Chip Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $20,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Waste Management by 74.8% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 6,673.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 5,472 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after buying an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.21.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WM traded down $2.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $210.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,650,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,993. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The stock has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.