Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Raises Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,048 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $8,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $619,797,000 after acquiring an additional 90,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,446,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $372,886,000 after acquiring an additional 9,001 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.15.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:WM opened at $212.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $208.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

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.