Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stock Purchased by Secure Asset Management LLC

Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,676 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Markowski Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 93.5% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM opened at $226.83 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $216.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The firm has a market cap of $90.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.42.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.9450 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 53.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.06.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $771,629.10. This represents a 28.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.