Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by WT Wealth Management

WT Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,964 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,450 shares during the quarter. WT Wealth Management's holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 1.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $806,509,000 after acquiring an additional 465,789 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.9%

WM traded down $1.97 on Monday, hitting $225.35. 1,176,708 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,634,744. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The company has a market cap of $90.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $231.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.73. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.29.

About Waste Management

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.