Vista Investment Partners II LLC Sells 11,995 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 85.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,064 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,995 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% during the first quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.00.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of WM stock opened at $228.14 on Friday. The company 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, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $242.58. The company's fifty day moving average price is $233.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 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.

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