California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 181,692 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,078,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 181,692 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.27% of Waste Management worth $238,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 101.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Waste Management in the second quarter worth $40,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $246.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waste Management from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, DZ Bank assumed coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.55.

Waste Management Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $238.61 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $229.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.32. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $96.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.57.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.945 dividend. This is an increase from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 7,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.50, for a total value of $1,724,044.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,644,130. This trade represents a 32.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.