River Street Advisors LLC Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

River Street Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,455 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 26,095.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $442,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902,081 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $334,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WM stock opened at $233.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $93.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The business's 50 day moving average is $233.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.