Park National Corp OH Reduces Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Park National Corp OH trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 203,328 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,187 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for about 1.7% of Park National Corp OH's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Park National Corp OH owned about 0.05% of Waste Management worth $47,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,654,173,000 after purchasing an additional 64,260 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $822,588,000 after buying an additional 224,279 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:WM traded up $3.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $241.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,439,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,665,228. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $230.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.79. The company has a market capitalization of $97.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. 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 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $241.68.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. CIBC increased their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.06.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at $12,241,066.93. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,947 shares of company stock worth $20,536,508 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.