Hantz Financial Services Inc. Has $5.75 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,508 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,583 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Waste Management by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Waste Management from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $209.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $212.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $184.72 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 45.87%.

About Waste Management

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.