Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Holdings Raised by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 908 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB grew its position in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after buying an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 4.4% in the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 10,927 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 57.6% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WM shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $229.73 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $232.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $215.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.