Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 45.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,209 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Scotiabank upgraded Waste Management from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.39.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:WM opened at $209.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $212.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $184.72 and a 1-year high of $230.39. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 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.