Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX Purchases Shares of 4,256 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,256 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $441,000. United Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. American Trust bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $359,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $376,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM traded up $1.24 on Tuesday, hitting $238.05. 1,791,378 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,663,075. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $229.66 and a 200-day moving average of $222.48. The stock has a market cap of $95.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $239.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,385 shares of company stock valued at $6,636,603 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.06.

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.