Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 153.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,078 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 26,095.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $442,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,081 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Waste Management by 250.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,506,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Melius Research raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $227.13 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The company has a market capitalization of $91.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $231.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.55.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

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.