Beacon Investment Advisors LLC Has $246,000 Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Beacon Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WM shares. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.76.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. The trade was a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6 %

WM opened at $230.84 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $227.89 and a 200-day moving average of $219.11. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $92.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 48.53%.

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.