Empirical Asset Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 3.9% during the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at $834,946.25. The trade was a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $211.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $214.24 and its 200 day moving average is $211.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $180.25 and a one year high of $230.39.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.72.

Waste Management 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.