Kentucky Trust Co Invests $101,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $101,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Waste Management by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mcrae Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE WM opened at $227.42 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.20 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $91.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.