B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 2,845 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,201 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,845 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,506,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $941,181.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,288,582.29. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 87,947 shares of company stock worth $20,536,508. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $0.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $237.14. 1,855,203 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,663,860. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $95.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

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.