Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) SVP Rafael Carrasco Sells 674 Shares

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $242.00. 1,743,247 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,766,548. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $230.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.10. The stock has a market cap of $97.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its position in 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 valued at $377,184,000 after buying an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $55,929,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.