Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Raises Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted 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 valued at $377,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,940 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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 valued at $55,929,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. boosted 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 valued at $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted 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 valued at $22,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $234.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $231.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.00.

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.