Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Purchases 130 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third 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 increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $212.11 and a 200-day moving average of $212.15.

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

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.