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

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) CAO John A. Carroll sold 47 shares of the business's 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 owns 9,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,270,363.96. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded down $4.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $226.14. The stock had a trading volume of 298,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,518,740. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $90.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $217.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.49. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $235.81.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (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, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 48.53%.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WM. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. CIBC increased their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James increased their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued 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 $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.