Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 14,110 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,110 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.05% of Waste Management worth $43,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Waste Management by 29.7% during the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.0% in the first quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 4.4% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.7% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WM has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total value of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,324,156.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock traded up $3.84 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $200.80. 1,131,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,702,072. The company has a market cap of $80.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.71 and a twelve month high of $225.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $209.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.04.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The company had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 49.10%.

Waste Management Company 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.