Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Has $7.66 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,109 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at $325,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 54,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,533,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $29,677.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,279,294.11. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Waste Management from $266.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, January 5th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $225.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $90.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $232.06 and its 200-day moving average is $220.82. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.11 and a one year high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.