Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 537,779 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 45,121 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.13% of Waste Management worth $124,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 126.9% in the 1st quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 69.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Adalta Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WM. HSBC upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $210.00 to $265.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $251.29.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE WM traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $225.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,696,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,636,011. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $232.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.67% and a return on equity of 35.67%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. 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.