Devina A. Rankin Sells 5,826 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Stock

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. The trade was a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM opened at $224.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.48 and a 12 month high of $230.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $212.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.24.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the third 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 grew its stake 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WM shares. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Waste Management from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.50.

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.