Quilter Plc Decreases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Quilter Plc decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 25.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26,422 shares during the period. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $17,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the first quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Waste Management from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $229.00 target price on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.71.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $226.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $242.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

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.