Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Invests $249,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued 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 $226.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $217.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $87.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.73 and a 12-month high of $226.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $211.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.71.

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 return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

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.