Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Acquires 95 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Drake & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Drake & Associates LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.2% in the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 3,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $209.36 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $200.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on WM shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.61.

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.