ABC Arbitrage SA Sells 9,946 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 50.8% during Q1, after selling 9,946 shares, leaving it with 9,646 shares valued at approximately $2.23 million.
• GAMMA Investing LLC dramatically increased its stake in Waste Management by 26,095.2%, now owning 1.91 million shares worth about $442 million.
$1.92, exceeding estimates, with revenues reaching $6.43 billion, a 19% increase year-over-year.

ABC Arbitrage SA lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 50.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,646 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,946 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA's holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 126.9% in the first quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $45,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Waste Management from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.35.

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 directly owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $233.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,045,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,589,605. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.58, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $230.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.69. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.69 and a 12-month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.96%.

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.