Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by Okabena Investment Services Inc.

Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.1% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Waste Management by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM opened at $224.41 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $212.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.10. The stock has a market cap of $90.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $168.73 and a one year high of $226.84.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $834,946.25. This trade represents a 7.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WM. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Company 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.