Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,835 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 127.3% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. HSBC downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $210.56. 1,502,012 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,681,530. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $208.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.42.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change 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 49.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 worth $3,696,520. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.