Boothbay Fund Management LLC Sells 14,319 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC lessened its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 84.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,631 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 14,319 shares during the quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,175,000 after buying an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 0.7% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,706 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,638,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 245.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 6,689 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth $562,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WM shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.29.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,924 shares of company stock worth $21,298,176. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded up $0.57 on Friday, hitting $233.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,227,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,645,279. The company has a market capitalization of $94.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $228.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

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.