VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys Shares of 68,921 Waste Management, Inc. $WM

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 68,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,361,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Sprott Inc. bought a new position in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $325,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Waste Management by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 272,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,339,000 after buying an additional 20,122 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Waste Management by 68.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 366,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,843,000 after buying an additional 148,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co raised its holdings in Waste Management by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Waste Management from $270.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Waste Management from $263.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.89.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0%

Waste Management stock opened at $218.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $87.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.42. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $228.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.04. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.11%.The company had revenue of $6.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.54%.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.