Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Purchases 135 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,452 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. Gilfoyle & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 66.7% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 40.1% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $207.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $83.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $207.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 53.00%.

About Waste Management

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.