First Hawaiian Bank Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Hawaiian Bank cut its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,102 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,105 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WM. Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $377,184,000 after purchasing an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,929,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 252,022 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $50,856,000 after purchasing an additional 23,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 15,093 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,046,000 after acquiring an additional 6,770 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $239.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 380,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,636,776. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $230.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business 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 is currently 49.77%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,966 shares of company stock worth $18,486,402 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Nine 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.06.

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.