ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,172 Waste Management, Inc. $WM

ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,064,206,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 444.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,728 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Waste Management by 218.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Waste Management by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,400,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $309,317,000 after purchasing an additional 869,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 982.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 886,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,692,000 after buying an additional 804,285 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DZ Bank started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Waste Management in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total value of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 99,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,320,720.02. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $236.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 56.42%.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.