Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires 13,529 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 205,144 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,529 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Waste Management worth $47,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 69.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 87.6% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $250.53.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 2.3%

Waste Management stock traded down $5.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $228.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,166,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,396. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $92.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $233.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.20.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management's dividend 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.