Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $4.34 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,411 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WM. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.65.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.92, for a total value of $282,625.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,246.40. This represents a 12.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 44,405 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $10,143,434.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,212,664.23. This represents a 17.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock worth $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $227.37 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $221.92 and a 200-day moving average of $215.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $235.81. The firm has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.53%.

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.