Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Purchases 1,004 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 74.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 275,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,068,000 after acquiring an additional 14,229 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter valued at $235,000. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% during the third quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 2,392 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.5% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 105,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,135,000 after acquiring an additional 6,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 25.2% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 814 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WM. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Waste Management Stock Down 2.0 %

WM opened at $208.01 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $208.88 and its 200 day moving average is $188.04.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total value of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.