Sweeney & Michel LLC Purchases New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sweeney & Michel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $86,364,000. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in Waste Management by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 173,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,124,000 after buying an additional 4,199 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WM traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $201.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,883,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,708,707. The stock has a market cap of $80.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $209.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.33.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The firm had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

Waste Management Company 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.