Financial Advocates Investment Management Acquires 121 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $224.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.48 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.43.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.12%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.