Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,240 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,193,000 after acquiring an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $256,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,405 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $251.00.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.4%

WM traded up $3.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $226.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,525,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,625,583. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $232.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.87. 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 cap of $91.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.