Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 3,036 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 15.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,036 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the first quarter worth $31,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Markowski Investments bought a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Waste Management in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.00, for a total transaction of $121,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,108,546. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $771,629.10. This trade represents a 28.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WM. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $252.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $251.00 target price on Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.04.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE:WM opened at $244.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $221.00 and its 200-day moving average is $225.81. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $200.57 and a 52-week high of $248.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $97.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.38.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.18 by ($0.03). Waste Management had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.97%. The company had revenue of $6.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a $0.9450 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $3.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 49.61%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc., doing business as WM (NYSE:WM), is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transportation, disposal, recycling and resource-recovery services. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers through a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and other environmental infrastructure. WM’s services include curbside and commercial waste collection, construction and demolition debris management, recycling, organics processing and landfill disposal.