Advisors Preferred LLC Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,145 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 126.9% in the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Adalta Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $252.41.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $1.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $229.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,126,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,283. The firm has a market cap of $92.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50-day moving average price is $231.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.11. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 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.