Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 transaction 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $207.35. 121,511 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,660,176. 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 $83.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $208.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

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.