Employees Retirement System of Texas Has $60.90 Million Stock Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 275,761 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,517 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $60,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,583,000. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $3,092,000. Guerra Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Waste Management by 59.5% in the third quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc now owns 9,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371 shares in the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 537.0% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 95,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,138,000 after purchasing an additional 80,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 69,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,301,000 after buying an additional 11,135 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 target price (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, DZ Bank began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.55.

Waste Management Stock Up 1.0%

WM stock opened at $238.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $229.41 and its 200-day moving average is $220.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company had revenue of $6.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued 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 is currently 49.25%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 17,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.81, for a total transaction of $4,171,464.31. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,674,944.26. The trade was a 28.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John J. Morris sold 7,979 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.07, for a total transaction of $1,955,413.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,177,625.92. This trade represents a 7.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.