MONECO Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after buying an additional 46,084 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Waste Management by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $619,797,000 after purchasing an additional 90,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,446,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $372,886,000 after purchasing an additional 9,001 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $208.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $208.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The firm has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management 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.