Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 237,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 881 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.06% of Waste Management worth $47,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 12,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,498,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after buying an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total transaction of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,446.72. This trade represents a 5.77 % 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 Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,055 shares of company stock worth $2,674,780. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WM. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James boosted their target price on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM opened at $222.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.25. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.20 and a 1-year high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.12%.

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.