Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 11,691 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,640 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,691 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Waste Management were worth $43,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $1.03 on Friday, hitting $238.18. 550,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,616,676. The firm's 50 day moving average is $231.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.77. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.