Bfsg LLC Sells 913 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bfsg LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 913 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% during the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.4% during the 1st 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. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Waste Management by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Melius Research upgraded Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:WM opened at $234.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $94.40 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $242.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $232.52 and a 200-day moving average of $223.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 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.