Ipsen Advisor Group LLC Sells 146 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ipsen Advisor Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 146 shares during the quarter. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WM. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:WM opened at $233.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $242.58. The company has a market cap of $94.14 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $231.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.55.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.