Crowley Wealth Management Inc. Buys New Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $224.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $222.69 and a 200 day moving average of $215.86.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.