Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Has $1.37 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $230.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $92.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $232.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $214.22 and its 200-day moving average is $213.47.

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

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total transaction of $42,062.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,349,728.38. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,192 shares of company stock worth $15,025,861 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.