Moran Wealth Management LLC Purchases 530 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 67.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,537,000 after purchasing an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.6% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,741,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $361,450,000 after purchasing an additional 122,696 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at about $944,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 10.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 217.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 10,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $227.72 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.94. The company has a market cap of $91.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 37.93%. Research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Waste Management Company 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.