KFG Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

KFG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 444.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $487,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,728 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $309,317,000 after acquiring an additional 869,453 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 982.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 886,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,692,000 after purchasing an additional 804,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:WM opened at $233.73 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $232.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.42%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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 approximately $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.59.

About Waste Management

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.