Sabal Trust CO Sells 6,057 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sabal Trust CO cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 208,667 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,057 shares during the quarter. Waste Management makes up 2.7% of Sabal Trust CO's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Sabal Trust CO owned 0.05% of Waste Management worth $48,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 69.0% in the first quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, 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 own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE WM traded up $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $228.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,895,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,625,065. The company has a market capitalization of $91.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.66. The company's 50-day moving average price is $233.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 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.