McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Grows Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $8,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of WM opened at $213.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.72 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $212.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.29. The firm has a market cap of $85.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. William Blair started coverage on Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.