Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. abrdn plc grew its holdings in Waste Management by 315.7% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,773 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,680,000 after purchasing an additional 910,418 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 16.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in Waste Management by 128.2% in the third quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 898,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,012,000 after purchasing an additional 504,924 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WM traded down $2.60 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. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $208.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.87.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost 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 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James raised their target price on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.21.

Waste Management Company 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.