Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.29.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.0 %

WM opened at $233.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $228.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.15.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.