Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM – Get Rating) by 13.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,411 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Waste Management comprises about 1.4% of Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waste Management by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,313,607 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,597,207,000 after buying an additional 332,941 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,615,210 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,852,507,000 after purchasing an additional 673,451 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Waste Management by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,533,636 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $889,809,000 after purchasing an additional 221,439 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $687,551,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,223,694 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $371,134,000 after buying an additional 13,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.74% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.2 %

WM stock traded up $1.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.15. The company had a trading volume of 79,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,495. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $138.58 and a one year high of $175.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.39 and a 200-day moving average of $160.24. The stock has a market cap of $68.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.76.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 9th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 8th. Waste Management's payout ratio is 50.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 22,082 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $3,864,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,516 shares in the company, valued at $8,840,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 22,082 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $3,864,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,840,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John C. Pope sold 219 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $33,329.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,439 shares in the company, valued at $8,437,261.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,067 shares of company stock worth $9,292,271. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer set a $160.00 target price on Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.00.

About Waste Management

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Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides waste management environmental services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. 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, develops, and operates landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States, as well as owns and operates transfer stations.

Further Reading

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