Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC Buys 305 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Waste Management by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 312,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,990,000 after buying an additional 48,549 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 33,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,159,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WM shares. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. CIBC reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.89.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $212.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $85.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $208.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.95 and a 1 year high of $225.00.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

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.