Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Buys New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 110,208.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,778,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $749,659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,774,218 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $658,370,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 153.4% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,694,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236,280 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,370,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,156,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 17,627.7% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,401,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $140,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Erste Group Bank raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Waste Management news, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total transaction of $33,485.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,461 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,441. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at $27,816,516. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,242 shares of company stock worth $5,929,355 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $213.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $199.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.87. The stock has a market cap of $85.93 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s 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.