OneAscent Financial Services LLC Purchases 776 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $233.85 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.03 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.98.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.