Golden State Equity Partners Has $332,000 Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its position 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 valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 2,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $210.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The stock has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $208.54 and its 200 day moving average is $187.08.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.