Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Has $406,000 Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,185,967.59. This trade represents a 17.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $224.94 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $211.90 and a 200-day moving average of $211.43. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.48 and a 1 year high of $230.39. The company has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 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 38.88%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 44.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WM. Argus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

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.