Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $6.32 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 11.3% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,063,072,000 after purchasing an additional 520,096 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after purchasing an additional 157,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 12.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,175,000 after purchasing an additional 276,287 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 5,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.51, for a total value of $1,304,087.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 55,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,646,598.37. This represents a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $10,143,434.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,192 shares of company stock valued at $15,025,861. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.9 %

WM opened at $228.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $232.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 48.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WM. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.94.

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.