Waste Management, Inc. $WM Holdings Trimmed by GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 67.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,014 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Holos Integrated Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.13, for a total transaction of $150,628.21. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,345,356.91. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.2%

WM stock opened at $218.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $248.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.51.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.67.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.