First Western Trust Bank Purchases New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 89.8% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 634 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 435,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,990,000 after purchasing an additional 8,737 shares during the period. Breed s Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $318,000. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2 %

Waste Management stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $210.50. 1,318,853 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,668,071. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were 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 owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.