Hall Laurie J Trustee Acquires 120 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Hall Laurie J Trustee lifted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,355 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for approximately 1.7% of Hall Laurie J Trustee’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,718,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. IAM Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 11,315 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its position in Waste Management by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $211.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.25. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.56 and a 12 month high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.