Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Stock: Insider Johnson Varkey Sells 500 Shares

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) SVP Johnson Varkey sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.00, for a total transaction of $121,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,713 shares in the company, valued at $2,108,546. This represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $237.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $94.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $220.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.68. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $200.57 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.97% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a $0.9450 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.3% in the third quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 3,412 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC grew its position in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 16,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $244.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $267.00 target price (up from $263.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.04.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc., doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure. WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.