Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,592 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94 % 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, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,522 shares of company stock worth $18,987,684 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.29.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $234.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $228.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.32. The company has a market cap of $94.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

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.

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