Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $104.98 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC has increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 1.6%, now holding approximately 0.11% of the company valued at about $104.98 million.
• Research firms have recently boosted their price targets for Waste Management, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.35.
• Waste Management reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.92, exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 19% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 453,452 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,026 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.11% of Waste Management worth $104,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 26,095.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $442,038,000 after buying an additional 1,902,081 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Waste Management by 250.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,716,000 after buying an additional 1,184,905 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,506,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Waste Management by 780.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 560,600 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $113,123,000 after purchasing an additional 496,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $806,509,000 after purchasing an additional 465,789 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $254.35.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

WM traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $233.05. 1,045,122 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,589,605. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.69 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $93.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.58, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $230.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.69.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.96%.

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.