California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 480,163 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 17,855 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Waste Management worth $96,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 12.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,706 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,638,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 4.6% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 11,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,327,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 245.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 6,689 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at about $562,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.
Waste Management Trading Up 0.1 %
WM stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $233.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,546,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,648,727. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $93.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $239.32.
Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Waste Management Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.
Insider Transactions at Waste Management
In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total transaction of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently weighed in on WM. HSBC upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.29.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Waste Management
About Waste Management
(
Free Report)
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.
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