Prospera Financial Services Inc Purchases 1,894 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,894 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trium Capital LLP lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after acquiring an additional 3,029 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Waste Management by 417.3% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,062,000 after acquiring an additional 437,613 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,765,594 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,537,000 after acquiring an additional 709,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $218.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.81 billion, a PE ratio of 33.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $168.73 and a 12-month high of $226.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.92.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

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.