Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 8.0% in 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 quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.68% of Waste Management worth $630,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Waste Management by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,193,000 after buying an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Waste Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Waste Management by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,405 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,925,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $295,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.29.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.7%

WM stock traded up $1.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $226.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,164,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,729,391. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $91.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16, a PEG 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 $232.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date 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.