Brighton Jones LLC Increases Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 170.5% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter worth $31,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth $35,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $204.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.68. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00. The company has a market capitalization of $81.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.82. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.52% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC cut their price objective on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.