AE Wealth Management LLC Sells 6,366 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

AE Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,195 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,366 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 126.9% in the 1st quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Adalta Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.4%

WM stock traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $229.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,126,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,581,502. 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 company has a market capitalization of $92.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $231.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.