WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Purchases 100 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WM. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 10.9% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $371,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

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.