Level Four Advisory Services LLC Purchases 245 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.2% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 34,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Waste Management by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Waste Management by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 83,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,355,000 after buying an additional 29,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,245,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market cap of $91.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $224.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.56.

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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

About Waste Management

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.