Arizona State Retirement System Has $24.96 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,925 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $24,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after acquiring an additional 774,255 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Waste Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after acquiring an additional 277,250 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,276,000 after acquiring an additional 11,688 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Waste Management by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,530,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $781,494,000 after acquiring an additional 236,439 shares during the period. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its position in Waste Management by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 3,262,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $720,380,000 after purchasing an additional 364,512 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total value of $2,847,055.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 6,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,406,483.52. This represents a 66.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total value of $4,171,464.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. This trade represents a 28.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 98,042 shares of company stock worth $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $232.98 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $248.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 10.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Waste Management’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.945 dividend. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 56.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.64.

Waste Management Profile

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.