Kovack Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at $7,146,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.6% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 9,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WM. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE WM opened at $210.20 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $208.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.54. The company has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.10%.

Waste Management 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.