Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $713,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 62.9% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $227.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $91.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $168.73 and a 52 week high of $228.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Waste Management 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.