Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 49.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,707 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,638 shares during the period. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth about $216,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 113,950.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,562 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust increased its stake in Waste Management by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 3,879 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 9,148 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,118,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.9% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 83,890 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $19,421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,698 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on WM shares. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $238.27. The company had a trading volume of 452,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,748,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $95.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $231.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.18.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. Waste Management's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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. Insiders have sold 78,966 shares of company stock valued at $18,486,402 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Company 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.