Ameriflex Group Inc. Invests $441,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,004 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $238.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,791,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,663,075. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $229.66 and a 200-day moving average of $222.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $95.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.48.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction 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 $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,385 shares of company stock worth $6,636,603 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.