Opinicus Capital Inc. Invests $260,000 in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Opinicus Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,122 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $377,184,000 after acquiring an additional 11,940 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $55,929,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,597 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 811.1% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 9,102 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,837,000 after buying an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:WM traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $236.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,414,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,764. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.00.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.