Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 396 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $969,401,000 after acquiring an additional 12,664 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,466 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after acquiring an additional 243,900 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after buying an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $473,047,000 after buying an additional 221,380 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $225.67 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.73 and a 12-month high of $226.84. The company has a market cap of $90.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $210.75 and its 200 day moving average is $209.43.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Argus increased their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.