First Foundation Advisors Boosts Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Foundation Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 170.5% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WM. Raymond James increased their price target on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.39.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $222.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,221,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,509,656. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.