Avior Wealth Management LLC Acquires 566 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth about $193,955,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 20,402.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 868,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,196,000 after purchasing an additional 863,846 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 85.6% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,561,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,234,000 after buying an additional 720,358 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 248.5% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 984,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,092,000 after buying an additional 702,188 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WM shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $221.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $88.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $212.52 and a 200-day moving average of $210.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $168.73 and a 52-week high of $226.84.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management 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.