Carnegie Investment Counsel Purchases 1,089 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,800 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Waste Management were worth $10,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Adalta Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of 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 lifted their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.41.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.4%

WM traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $229.58. 1,126,277 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,581,502. 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 stock 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $231.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued 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 was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.77%.

About Waste Management

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.