Avestar Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 10.9% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.1% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,086 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 65,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1 %

WM opened at $227.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.97 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $211.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.85. The stock has a market cap of $91.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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.