Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 251,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,787 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $58,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 69.0% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management 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 approximately $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $234.59 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.81. 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 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.40 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. 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 payout ratio is 49.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waste Management from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Melius Research raised Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently 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.