Insider Selling: Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) SVP Sells 124 Shares of Stock

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Johnson Varkey also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 31st, Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of Waste Management stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM traded down $1.68 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $232.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,251,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,520,491. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.59 and a 12 month high of $236.64. The firm has a market cap of $93.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $216.31 and a 200-day moving average of $214.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WM shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,526,823,000 after purchasing an additional 538,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 22.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% 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.