Bluesphere Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bluesphere Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Bluesphere Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 7,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,416,000 after buying an additional 2,767 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Red Wave Investments LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Red Wave Investments LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 113,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 38,696 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 74.8% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.9 %

WM stock traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $212.04. 603,969 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,657,738. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James boosted their price target on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.21.

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.