Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Sells 387 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 387 shares during the quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.9% during the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.39.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $213.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $212.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.28. The company has a market capitalization of $85.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.72 and a 1 year high of $230.39.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

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.