Financial Insights Inc. Makes New Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Financial Insights Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,250 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in Waste Management by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,193,000 after buying an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,684 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Waste Management by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,336 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Melius Research raised Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.00.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $228.14. 2,895,650 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,619,912. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The firm has a market cap of $91.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $233.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.45. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 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.