KKM Financial LLC Purchases 618 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

KKM Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up about 1.2% of KKM Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. KKM Financial LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 3,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 4,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,650,000. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 22,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 14,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.0 %

WM stock opened at $233.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $239.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $228.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.15.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,646,598.37. The trade was a 9.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock valued at $18,084,124. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.29.

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.