1,871 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Bought by bLong Financial LLC

bLong Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,871 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $228.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,256,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,679,337. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $212.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.59. The firm has a market cap of $91.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total transaction of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. This trade represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock worth $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.94.

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.