Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Has $3.55 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,654 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,242 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Weaver Consulting Group bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter valued at about $218,000. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth about $61,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 7,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 200.0% in the first quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 12,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after buying an additional 8,422 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,769,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on WM shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.61.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, 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 is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $213.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.57 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.85.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. 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.