Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Position Lifted by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 1.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mcrae Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WM. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE WM opened at $226.78 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.48 and a 1-year high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $91.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $211.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.12%.

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.