Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Invests $89,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 44.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $900,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,466 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $193,955,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 20,402.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,196,000 after purchasing an additional 863,846 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Waste Management by 85.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,234,000 after purchasing an additional 720,358 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.5 %

WM stock opened at $224.78 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.73 and a fifty-two week high of $226.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $210.44 and a 200-day moving average of $209.33. The company has a market capitalization of $90.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.