Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 238,155 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,723,408 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 238,155 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.68% of Waste Management worth $630,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $822,588,000 after buying an additional 224,279 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $224.82. The stock had a trading volume of 2,119,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,437. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.64. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.29. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. Waste Management's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $251.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $251.00.

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.