Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Bought by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 177,269 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,147 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $41,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 87.6% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. HSBC raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 price target on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued 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 an average price target of $251.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:WM traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $228.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,895,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,625,065. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

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.