Waste Management, Inc. $WM Stock Bought by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 130,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,648 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $26,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. Claro Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 5.9% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors Inc. now owns 2,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 2.0% during the third quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,134,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 2,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 15,484 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,158,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 16,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $236.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.47 and a 12-month high of $248.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.59.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.97%. The company had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.9450 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 49.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $232.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $277.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares in the company, valued at $771,629.10. The trade was a 28.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure.

WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.