Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. Waste Management comprises 1.2% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 8.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,057 shares of company stock valued at $5,895,870. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WM shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.85.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WM traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $205.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 460,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,673,326. The firm has a market cap of $82.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $205.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.90.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

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.