Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $295,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,405 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in Waste Management by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 1,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 33,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,793,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WM. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $228.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $235.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $223.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,061 shares in the company, valued at $48,212,664.23. The trade was a 17.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Profile

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.