Central Valley Advisors LLC Sells 2,800 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Central Valley Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 49.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 26,095.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $442,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,081 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 250.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,658,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $334,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,905 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:WM opened at $233.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $231.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.55. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $263.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.