Toth Financial Advisory Corp Boosts Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,139 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp's holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WM. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.00.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.0%

WM traded down $2.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $233.94. 1,305,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,622,937. 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 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $231.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $223.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

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. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 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.