Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Holdings Lifted by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 48.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,940 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management 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 owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $211.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $214.24 and a 200-day moving average of $211.23. 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 one year low of $180.25 and a one year high of $230.39. The stock has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.