Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,815 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 32.1% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 138.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 718,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $149,168,000 after purchasing an additional 416,579 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $224.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.43. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.48 and a 52-week 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

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.