Constitution Capital LLC Buys 650 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Constitution Capital LLC raised its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 9.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up approximately 1.0% of Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 14,475 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,921,000 after buying an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,604,000 after purchasing an additional 2,205 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.06.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $236.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $242.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $231.31 and its 200-day moving average is $223.44.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (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 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

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.