Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Grows Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank upped their target price on 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 boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. HSBC raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of WM stock opened at $234.01 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $231.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.62. The stock has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. 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 twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

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.