Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX Purchases Shares of 4,206 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX purchased a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,206 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,061,521,000 after buying an additional 46,084 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $784,486,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $619,797,000 after purchasing an additional 90,129 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $209.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 919,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,099. The company has a 50 day moving average of $209.55 and a 200 day moving average of $193.27. The stock has a market cap of $84.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total transaction of $1,844,111.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,804,339.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,390,951. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.61.

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.

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