Armis Advisers LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Armis Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,169 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 87,947 shares of company stock valued at $20,536,508. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $3.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $241.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,439,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,649,823. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $230.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $241.68. The stock has a market cap of $97.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

About Waste Management

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.