Signal Advisors Wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 43.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,381 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Waste Management by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock traded down $2.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $236.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,181,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,624,211. The company has a market capitalization of $95.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $231.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.47. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The business's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.