Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.65 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in Waste Management by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 49,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,270,000 after purchasing an additional 7,776 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Waste Management by 11.9% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 99,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,552,000 after purchasing an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 10.7% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 13,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WM. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5 %

Waste Management stock opened at $227.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $91.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $213.43 and its 200 day moving average is $213.12. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

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.