IVC Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 396 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

IVC Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 396 shares during the quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, October 4th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $220.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.72.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.7 %

WM opened at $209.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $183.00 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $84.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $213.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 45.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.