Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Buys 1,289 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 31.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FCA Corp TX grew its position in Waste Management by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 5,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised their target price on Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $0.40 on Friday, reaching $209.09. 509,038 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,648,577. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $209.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 2,611 shares of company stock valued at $546,839 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.