Powers Advisory Group LLC Has $1.73 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Powers Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 534 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.0% of Powers Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Powers Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,084 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $859,624,000 after buying an additional 16,213 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $784,486,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after acquiring an additional 844,298 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,997,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $357,729,000 after acquiring an additional 38,828 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC raised their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Waste Management stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $210.20. 720,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,702,207. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $200.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Waste Management 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.