Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Purchased by RFG Advisory LLC

RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 113.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,429 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,419 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after buying an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $822,588,000 after buying an additional 224,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $0.52 on Thursday, reaching $238.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,040,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,633,287. The stock has a market cap of $95.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $231.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.18.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. HSBC raised Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total value of $4,303,870.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,158,100.47. The trade was a 18.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,966 shares of company stock worth $18,486,402 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management 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.