Liberty One Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,716 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,597 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for 2.8% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Liberty One Investment Management LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $27,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 14.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $295,000. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $394,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Waste Management Price Performance
Shares of WM traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $226.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,860,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,631,478. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $232.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.29. The company has a market capitalization of $91.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.64.
Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company 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 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Waste Management Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Melius started coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.29.
Read Our Latest Research Report on WM
About Waste Management
(
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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