Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Increases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,241,066.93. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,385 shares of company stock worth $6,636,603. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $237.01 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.28. The stock has a market cap of $95.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WM. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.06.

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.