Trust Point Inc. Sells 1,073 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Trust Point Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 41.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,073 shares during the quarter. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,009,726,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 26,095.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,909,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $442,038,000 after buying an additional 1,902,081 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter valued at $340,611,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 250.1% in the fourth 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 raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $234.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.88. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. Waste Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. HSBC raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.00.

Waste Management 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.