Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. Buys 2,180 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.4% of Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $377,184,000 after buying an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,929,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $3,349,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its position 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 valued at $22,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $233.94 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $231.29 and a 200 day moving average of $223.55. The firm has a market cap of $94.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.00.

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.