XML Financial LLC Grows Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 239 shares during the quarter. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.9% during the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.1% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the third quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Argus upped their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.72.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WM opened at $211.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $84.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.00 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.