Empirical Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 24,932 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,932 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,031,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased 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. Finally, William Blair started coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM traded up $0.78 on Friday, reaching $211.79. 1,663,684 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,689,250. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.56 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $85.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $214.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.