Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Hartline Investment Corp

Hartline Investment Corp grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,311 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the quarter. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in Waste Management by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $25,193,000 after acquiring an additional 15,974 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,744 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 589 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 14,254 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 7,342 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $251.00.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.4%

WM traded up $3.04 on Friday, hitting $226.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,525,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,625,583. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $232.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, 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.

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.