886 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Bought by Realta Investment Advisors

Realta Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 886 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after acquiring an additional 64,260 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $822,588,000 after acquiring an additional 224,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Waste Management by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,996,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $806,509,000 after acquiring an additional 465,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $225.90 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The firm has a market cap of $90.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WM. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.29.

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.