Everhart Financial Group Inc. Invests $503,000 in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at $325,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter worth $3,289,000. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 25.5% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 8,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in Waste Management by 10.7% in the second quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 11,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WM. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, COO John J. Morris sold 4,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.38, for a total transaction of $1,024,873.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 99,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,320,720.02. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total transaction of $2,847,055.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. This trade represents a 66.93% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $231.18 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company 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%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.