2,742 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. $WM Acquired by KFG Wealth Management LLC

KFG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth about $41,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 16th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total value of $1,955,413.53. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total value of $2,847,055.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. This represents a 66.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $233.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $232.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.48. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The business had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 56.42%.

About Waste Management

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.