Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,792 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,385 shares of company stock valued at $6,636,603. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $237.01 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $239.48. The company has a market cap of $95.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $229.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.37.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WM. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Waste Management Company 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.