Centricity Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 708 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on WM shares. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $229.07 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $213.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.81. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.