Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Acquires 9,751 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 22.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,099 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,751 shares during the period. Waste Management comprises approximately 0.4% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings in Waste Management were worth $12,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 41.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 283,500 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $65,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 592,229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $137,108,000 after purchasing an additional 24,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,247 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.29.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock traded up $3.34 during trading on Monday, reaching $229.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,796,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,735,428. 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 simple moving average is $232.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 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.