Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Bought by Cynosure Group LLC

Cynosure Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 216.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,196 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 55.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.2%

WM stock opened at $216.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.