Toth Financial Advisory Corp Has $3.47 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.9% during the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% during the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the third quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $209.43 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $183.00 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The firm has a market cap of $84.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $212.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.27.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

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.