Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) EVP Charles C. Boettcher Sells 693 Shares

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $223.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.24. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.20 and a 52-week high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Waste Management by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 74,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,444,000 after buying an additional 4,842 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 9.9% in the third quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 valued at $1,388,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

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.