Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $3.12 Million Stock Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 42.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,452 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,639 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Waste Management were worth $3,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,146,111 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,686,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,818 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,120,772 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,063,072,000 after acquiring an additional 520,096 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Waste Management by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $854,446,000 after acquiring an additional 280,455 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 94,414.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,584 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $538,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588,842 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Waste Management by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,433,408 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $505,175,000 after acquiring an additional 276,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Johnson Varkey sold 560 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.11, for a total value of $123,261.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,014,446.72. This represents a 5.77 % 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, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine investment 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 MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.94.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:WM traded up $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $228.40. 1,256,174 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,679,337. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $230.39. The company has a market cap of $91.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, 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 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.12%.

Waste Management Profile

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.