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

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) 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 value 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. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $237.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,854,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,125. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $239.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $229.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.48.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 26,095.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $442,038,000 after buying an additional 1,902,081 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $340,611,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at $333,089,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,316,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,233,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.06.

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.