4,124 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Purchased by Robbins Farley

Robbins Farley bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,124 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $832,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.6 %

WM opened at $223.89 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.20 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.24. The company has a market capitalization of $89.86 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,653 shares of company stock valued at $364,287 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

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.