Clearstead Trust LLC Raises Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for 0.9% of Clearstead Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 62,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,520,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Waste Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 96,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Investment Group grew its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 3,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Waste Management stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $207.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,237,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,229. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $83.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,641.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.