Employees Retirement System of Texas Lowers Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 267,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,543 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.07% of Waste Management worth $58,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waste Management in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.67.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $215.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $86.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $226.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.92. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. The trade was a 7.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total value of $1,165,136.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 78,918 shares in the company, valued at $19,084,739.94. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,296 shares of company stock worth $8,569,283. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.