Fire Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,859 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,859 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $577,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,311 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in Waste Management by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,792 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,209 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,733 shares of company stock worth $20,486,243 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of WM traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $240.09. 557,835 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,645,611. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $241.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.78. The firm has a market cap of $96.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 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.