Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) CFO Sells $13,740,295.68 in Stock

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $237.14. 1,854,519 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,663,839. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $229.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.48. The firm has a market cap of $95.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $239.67.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.06.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,585,000. Wealth Management Associates Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. now owns 1,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Turn8 Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Turn8 Private Wealth Inc. now owns 15,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,690,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Reliant Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.