Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) VP Donald J. Smith Sells 43 Shares

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) VP Donald J. Smith sold 43 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.81, for a total value of $10,096.83. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,414,495.44. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $230.55 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.49. The company has a market cap of $92.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WM. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

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.