Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 288 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WM. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial upped 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target for the company. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $207.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 788,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $214.90 and a 200 day moving average of $211.38. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.83 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.