California Public Employees Retirement System Has $322.97 Million Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,600,534 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 243,351 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.40% of Waste Management worth $322,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WM. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.65.

Waste Management Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $3.02 on Thursday, hitting $237.58. 767,015 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,615,444. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $225.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.75. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $196.59 and a one year high of $238.90.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 37.93%. On average, research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,506.30. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.22, for a total value of $42,062.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,349,728.38. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Waste Management

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.