State of Alaska Department of Revenue Acquires 1,155 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,796 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Waste Management were worth $9,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm'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 value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WM opened at $233.14 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $232.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report).

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.