Brighton Jones LLC Has $1.02 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, HSBC lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total value of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $206.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $208.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.17.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

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.