State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $14.02 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 11.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,135 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $14,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.61.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $210.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $208.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.47. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.