Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 1,222 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 0.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 953,526 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Waste Management worth $220,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 811.1% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 9,102 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,837,000 after buying an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 592,229 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $137,108,000 after buying an additional 24,023 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 34,617 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,985,000 after purchasing an additional 10,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GPM Growth Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 144.2% in the fourth quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. now owns 11,045 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 6,522 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $228.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,895,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,912. 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $233.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.45. The company has a market cap of $91.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The firm'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 EPS. Analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $251.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.00.

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.