Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $6.34 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,384 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,288 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Waste Management were worth $6,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 69.0% during the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 87.6% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 197 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on WM shares. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, June 9th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Melius Research raised Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.00.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock traded down $1.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $231.94. 2,583,457 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,617,385. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The firm has a market cap of $93.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company's fifty day moving average price is $233.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Waste Management's payout ratio is 49.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total value of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,917,311.02. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,922,574.24. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.