Freedom Financial Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 952 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Freedom Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 952 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,861,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 159.0% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 78,966 shares of company stock worth $18,486,402. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $240.47 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.07.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management 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.