Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.52 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

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

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 126.9% in the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 69.0% during the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $251.29.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $226.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,860,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,629,362. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $232.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.29. 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 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $91.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management 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.