Scissortail Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,377 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $997,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,057 shares of company stock valued at $5,895,870 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $204.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,457,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,687,398. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Company 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.

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