Apella Capital LLC Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Apella Capital LLC grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,184,000 after acquiring an additional 11,940 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,929,000 after acquiring an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,349,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 110,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of WM stock opened at $239.07 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $231.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $96.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,966 shares of company stock worth $18,486,402 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.