Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 1,838 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,838 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $15,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,897,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $803,819,000 after buying an additional 25,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,961,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $597,614,000 after buying an additional 157,082 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 124 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.96, for a total value of $29,135.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,045.36. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.2 %

WM stock opened at $226.83 on Friday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.59 and a 1-year high of $235.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management’s payout ratio is presently 48.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Waste Management from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.65.

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.