First Hawaiian Bank Purchases 3,214 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 96.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,541 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,214 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $1,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $207.89 on Thursday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.71 and a 12-month high of $214.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.00. The company has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, June 14th. CIBC raised their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eleven equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.61.

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.