Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 3,639 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 25.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,639 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on WM shares. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.00.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $233.94 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $231.29 and a 200-day moving average of $223.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $94.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.