Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Position Boosted by Catalyst Financial Partners LLC

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 209 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 40.1% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $210.00. 1,145,569 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,671,918. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $209.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

Waste Management 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.