New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 10,827 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,827 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Waste Management worth $55,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 278,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 280,455 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $99,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waste Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.50.

Waste Management Stock Performance

NYSE WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $212.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.96. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.59 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. Analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,046,109.78. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.