Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys 12,507 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 216,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,507 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Waste Management worth $49,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after acquiring an additional 553,605 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,820,921,000 after purchasing an additional 281,456 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,371,000 after purchasing an additional 117,476 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,613,000 after purchasing an additional 277,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $1,022,916,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and set a $244.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.20.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock traded up $1.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $233.50. 1,033,338 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,243,656. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The stock has a market cap of $93.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $220.79 and its 200 day moving average is $225.93.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.70%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.