Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $212.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $213.57 and a 200 day moving average of $211.27. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $182.93 and a 12 month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.