Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 1,188 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,188 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 26,095.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $442,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902,081 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 250.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. 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 business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $231.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,583,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,617,385. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.04.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. 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.