Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Buys 6,952 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 55,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,952 shares during the period. Waste Management accounts for about 1.6% of Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 16,963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $215.18 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $231.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.91. The company has a market capitalization of $86.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. UBS Group raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.67.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,674,944.26. This represents a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total value of $1,724,044.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,644,130. This represents a 32.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 91,959 shares of company stock valued at $21,698,005 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.