Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FCA Corp TX increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 5,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. CIBC boosted their target price on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $206.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $207.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.69. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

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.