Prasad Wealth Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Prasad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management lifted 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 buying an additional 120 shares during 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of WM opened at $229.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $213.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $92.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $230.63.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,460 shares of company stock worth $13,721,774 in the last quarter. 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.