Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,145 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 74,394 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,444,000 after buying an additional 4,842 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,842 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,546 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 23.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 40.2% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WM shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.1 %

WM stock traded up $2.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $224.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,394,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,830,272. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $212.05 and a 200 day moving average of $211.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.48 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $90.18 billion, a PE ratio of 33.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,055 shares of company stock worth $2,674,780. 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.