Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC Has $1.94 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,310 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,439 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total transaction of $705,772.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at $12,241,066.93. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 87,733 shares of company stock worth $20,486,243. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded down $1.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $240.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,764,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,777. The company's 50-day moving average is $230.67 and its 200-day moving average is $222.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $96.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.42.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.