Dynasty Wealth Management LLC Buys 395 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Dynasty Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WM opened at $229.73 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $232.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.69. The company has a market cap of $92.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,646,598.37. This represents a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

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.