WD Rutherford LLC Invests $1.41 Million in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,101 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,412,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $781,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% in the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Waste Management by 8.2% during the 4th 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. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Melius Research raised shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $1.17 on Wednesday, reaching $233.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,076,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,614,948. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $232.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.88. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

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.