HF Advisory Group LLC Has $746,000 Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

HF Advisory Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $205.66. The company had a trading volume of 154,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,659,946. The firm has a market cap of $82.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.43. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change 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 1.46%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 95,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,507 shares of company stock worth $4,157,770 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.