RDA Financial Network Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

RDA Financial Network lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in Waste Management by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 14,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $236.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $95.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $231.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.47. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Waste Management Company 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.