Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Buys 74 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMFree Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McDonough Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. McDonough Capital Management Inc now owns 26,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,362,000 after buying an additional 1,875 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 495.6% in the fourth quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 11,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 9,832 shares during the period. GPM Growth Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 144.2% in the fourth quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. now owns 11,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 6,522 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $340,611,000. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $394,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Waste Management

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $229.51 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $218.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $235.81. The stock has a market cap of $92.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WMGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,173 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,967 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Waste Management

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Waste Management (NYSE:WM)

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