Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock Position Cut by FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after purchasing an additional 500,701 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on WM shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.61.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WM traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.27. The stock had a trading volume of 323,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,721,477. The business’s 50 day moving average is $208.06 and its 200 day moving average is $200.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $214.54. The stock has a market cap of $83.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% 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.