Northeast Financial Group Inc. Purchases 171 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Northeast Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,523,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $969,401,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 44.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,226,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $900,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,466 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,846,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $820,539,000 after purchasing an additional 243,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 94,414.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $538,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,588,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,047,000 after purchasing an additional 221,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Waste Management Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of WM opened at $217.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $211.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.67. The company has a market capitalization of $87.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 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 1-year low of $168.73 and a 1-year high of $226.84.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 45.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on WM shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, October 4th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

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.