California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,600,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 243,351 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $322,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 5.2% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 34,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 18.2% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,614 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 21.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Waste Management by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 83,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,355,000 after purchasing an additional 29,315 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,245,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Morris sold 19,153 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.71, for a total transaction of $4,303,870.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,257 shares in the company, valued at $19,158,100.47. This trade represents a 18.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $216.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.59 and a 1 year high of $235.81.

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 the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

Waste Management Profile

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.