Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 592 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 62,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,520,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 4.3% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 128,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,650,000 after acquiring an additional 5,255 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 5.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.4% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at $14,934,010.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.24.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WM stock traded up $2.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $210.56. 1,502,012 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,681,530. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.42. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54. The company has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

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.