Certuity LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Certuity LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $227.42 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $211.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $194.20 and a one year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total transaction of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.