John A. Carroll Sells 47 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) CAO John A. Carroll sold 47 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.76, for a total value of $11,033.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,671 shares in the company, valued at $2,270,363.96. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WM traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $232.27. 1,251,991 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,520,527. The firm has a market cap of $93.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $236.64.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WM. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,282,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 9,504 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. XY Planning Network Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $475,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

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.