Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 170.5% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM traded up $3.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $200.54. 1,900,266 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,707,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.04. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $225.00. The stock has a market cap of $80.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.83.

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.