Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) SVP Tara J. Hemmer Sells 4,576 Shares of Stock

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,052,881.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:WM opened at $222.33 on Wednesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.20 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.25. The firm has a market cap of $89.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 74,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,842 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 4.6% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 23.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 40.2% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 21,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,410,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Company 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.