Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments reduced its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,796 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,061 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments' holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Waste Management by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 3,094 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $705,772.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 53,663 shares in the company, valued at $12,241,066.93. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,947 shares of company stock worth $20,536,508 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WM shares. CIBC lifted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $3.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $241.09. 2,439,995 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,649,823. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $241.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $230.41 and a 200-day moving average of $222.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.