Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,835 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,835 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted 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. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WM. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.24.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total transaction of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,353,349.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $210.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,502,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,530. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $208.99 and its 200-day moving average is $189.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

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.