2,354 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Acquired by Heck Capital Advisors LLC

Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,354 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,947 shares of company stock valued at $20,536,508 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.2%

WM stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $237.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,257,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,662,240. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $229.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.58. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $240.00. The company has a market capitalization of $95.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

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.