Benjamin Edwards Inc. Reduces Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 21.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,113 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 3.0% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 insiders.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $235.11 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.69 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $230.87 and a 200 day moving average of $229.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $94.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 34.37%. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.