Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) CFO Devina A. Rankin Sells 4,126 Shares

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 4,126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.11, for a total value of $941,181.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,288,582.29. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Waste Management Price Performance

WM traded up $3.55 on Friday, reaching $229.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,906,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,995. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $235.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $218.22 and a 200-day moving average of $214.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $92.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,009,726,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Waste Management by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $334,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,905 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,265,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $205,506,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WM. Scotiabank raised their target price on 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 lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.65.

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.