Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $5.49 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 44% in Q4 to 24,969 shares, a holding valued at approximately $5.49 million.
• Several analysts have raised targets recently and the stock carries an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $255.64.
• Corporate insiders sold 98,042 shares worth about $23.04 million over the last three months, leaving insiders with only 0.18% ownership.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 44.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,969 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,627 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group raised Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $255.64.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 99,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,320,720.02. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total value of $2,847,055.12. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,406,483.52. This represents a 66.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $223.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.42%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc NYSE: WM is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.

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