Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.0 %

WM traded up $2.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.12. 1,354,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,594,248. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The company has a market cap of $83.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.96.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.85.

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.