Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,745 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,301 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $30,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This 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 company insiders.
Waste Management Price Performance
Shares of NYSE WM traded down $1.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $226.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,039,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,530. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $233.08 and a 200-day moving average of $224.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $91.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $242.58.
Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 49.77%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $251.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday. Eight research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $250.71.
Read Our Latest Research Report on WM
About Waste Management
(
Free Report)
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.
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