Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 199 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 40.1% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.24.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0 %

WM traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $210.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,282,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,677,830. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $209.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72.

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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.