Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Takes Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,282,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Waste Management by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,521,000 after buying an additional 46,084 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $827,815,000 after buying an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,065,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $619,797,000 after purchasing an additional 90,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,446,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $372,886,000 after purchasing an additional 9,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.15.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM opened at $212.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.71 and a 1 year high of $214.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $208.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.50. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.