Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Buys 1,563 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,883 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 126.9% in the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 69.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $251.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $225.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,696,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,632,310. The company has a market cap of $90.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.44. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. 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.