994 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Purchased by USAdvisors Wealth Management LLC

USAdvisors Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 994 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.39.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7 %

Waste Management stock opened at $209.93 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.72 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $212.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

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.