Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by McIlrath & Eck LLC

McIlrath & Eck LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,646,598.37. This trade represents a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This represents a 18.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,522 shares of company stock worth $18,084,124. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of WM stock opened at $233.91 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $94.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $228.73 and its 200-day moving average is $221.88. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WM shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. HSBC raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.29.

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.