RWA Wealth Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 111.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $210.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

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.