KWB Wealth Has $824,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

KWB Wealth grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the quarter. KWB Wealth’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. HSBC raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research 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, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $239.07 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $231.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.18.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,966 shares of company stock valued at $18,486,402 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.