Waste Management, Inc. $WM Shares Purchased by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMFree Report) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 288,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,197 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $63,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 101.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total transaction of $150,628.21. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,607 shares in the company, valued at $2,345,356.91. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.67.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WM

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $215.42 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.92. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WMGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

About Waste Management

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Waste Management (NYSE:WM)

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