Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Ycg LLC

Ycg LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,488 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up about 4.1% of Ycg LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ycg LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $52,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WM. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 52,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,457 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 13,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the first quarter valued at about $1,116,000. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.3% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 22,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,695,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.8% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.33.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE WM traded up $1.97 on Friday, hitting $213.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,182,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,703,528. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $208.25 and its 200 day moving average is $201.79. The firm has a market cap of $85.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.74.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Waste Management 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.