USA Financial Formulas Raises Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 1,869,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,184,000 after buying an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 278,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,929,000 after buying an additional 8,914 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Waste Management by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Waste Management by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Waste Management by 811.1% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 9,102 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock opened at $234.22 on Thursday. 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 $94.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $231.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.70. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WM. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Melius began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine 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 MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

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.