Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after acquiring an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,348,000 after acquiring an additional 22,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WM opened at $212.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $207.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

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.