Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd Makes New $275,000 Investment in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,188 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,902,081 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, June 9th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.00.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $231.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.05. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $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 anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.