Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 60 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 87.6% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. CIBC lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $231.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $233.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The firm has a market cap of $93.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 35.67% and a net margin of 11.67%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

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.