Legacy Financial Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Legacy Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,672 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,122 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Group LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,243 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,861,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,966 shares of company stock worth $18,486,402 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Waste Management stock traded down $1.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $239.07. 1,193,471 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,639,942. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $230.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.07. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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