Sapient Capital LLC Sells 1,428 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 92,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $21,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 64,260 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,151,237 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,009,726,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,076,447 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $822,588,000 after purchasing an additional 224,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on WM. National Bank Financial raised Waste Management to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. HSBC raised Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.00.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. This represents 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.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $234.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $231.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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

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.