Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 372.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,630 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after purchasing an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $822,588,000 after buying an additional 224,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC upgraded 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 report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.00.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Waste Management
Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%
Waste Management stock traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $228.14. 2,895,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,625,611. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $242.58. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $233.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The company has a market cap of $91.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66.
Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.
Waste Management Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 49.77%.
Waste Management Company Profile
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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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