Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $54.37 Million Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,852 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,376 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.06% of Waste Management worth $54,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.4% in the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Waste Management by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 609 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $233.14 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.00. 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 $93.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65.

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

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WM. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Melius Research upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $263.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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