Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Acquired by American National Bank

American National Bank grew its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 106.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. American National Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.61.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $208.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,157,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,721,286. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.82 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $214.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $207.30 and its 200 day moving average is $198.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

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.