Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Has $504,000 Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. cut its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in Waste Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Waste Management during the first quarter worth $29,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the first quarter worth $33,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP John J. Morris sold 8,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.46, for a total value of $1,844,111.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 95,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,804,339.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.00, for a total value of $1,738,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,816,516. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.47.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM traded down $0.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $213.30. 1,529,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,647,263. The company has a 50-day moving average of $199.41 and a 200-day moving average of $178.87. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.71 and a 52-week high of $214.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

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.