Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 146,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 55,367 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $33,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WM. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Waste Management by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 124,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,193,000 after purchasing an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 2,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WM. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.41.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.4%

WM opened at $229.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $92.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.29. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.