Ipsen Advisor Group LLC Sells 146 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ipsen Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 146 shares during the quarter. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 3.6% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 2,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,411 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Terra Alpha Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 6.0% in the first quarter. Terra Alpha Investments LLC now owns 22,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.9% during the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 5,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Waste Management by 15.6% during the first quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 16,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,750,000 after buying an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of WM opened at $233.94 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $242.58. The firm 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $231.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.55. 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 results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 83,934 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Melius Research began coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $263.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. CIBC raised their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.