Transform Wealth LLC Grows Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Transform Wealth LLC raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 62.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,920 shares during the quarter. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WM opened at $211.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.14 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. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.56 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.27.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

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.