Insider Selling: Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) CAO Sells 1,251 Shares of Stock

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total transaction of $282,625.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,246.40. The trade was a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $222.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,262,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,530,250. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company's 50-day moving average is $219.61 and its 200-day moving average is $215.09. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81. The firm has a market cap of $89.63 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

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Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $56,135,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 6.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 79,192 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.