Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 112,642 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 188.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 112,642 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $36,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 30,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $965,000. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 7,942 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 8,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,511,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at $9,711,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $207.76 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $225.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

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.