Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,228 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,343 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $13,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,193,000 after buying an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $295,000. LBP AM SA purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,987,000. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 6,957 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $2.57 on Tuesday, reaching $226.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 306,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,631,507. The stock's 50-day moving average is $232.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.05. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The business 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 earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $251.29.

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.