Wealthspire Advisors LLC Acquires 715 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th 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 period. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $229.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $230.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $213.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. This represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 60,460 shares of company stock worth $13,721,774. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.