Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,062 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Waste Management were worth $5,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 67.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.7 %

WM stock opened at $217.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $168.73 and a 12 month high of $226.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.68. 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 (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waste Management news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.11.

Waste Management Company 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.