New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 25,916 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 657,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25,916 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $117,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth $35,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 66.7% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup increased their target price 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 increased their price target on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.85.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $209.50. 560,762 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,649,668. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $207.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 36.51% and a net margin of 11.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,262,034.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% 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.