Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Sells 145 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the third quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE WM traded down $0.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $213.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,529,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,647,263. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.87. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WM. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,816,516. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total transaction of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 1,782 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.23, for a total value of $363,937.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,353,349.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

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.