Avestar Capital LLC Raises Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $227.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $168.73 and a 1-year high of $228.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $213.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.32. The company has a market capitalization of $91.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.