Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC Has $337.39 Million Stake in Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,535,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 49,176 shares during the period. Waste Management makes up about 35.7% of Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $337,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WM shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Waste Management from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Waste Management stock opened at $219.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.68. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.11 and a fifty-two week high of $248.13.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 31.90% and a net margin of 10.99%.The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 54.70%.

Waste Management Company Profile

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.