Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 26,847 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. $WM

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,320,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,847 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $533,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waste Management during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Waste Management by 55.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WM shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Waste Management from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.70.

Waste Management Stock Performance

WM stock opened at $239.10 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.11 and a twelve month high of $248.13. The firm has a market cap of $96.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 31.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Waste Management, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $3.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

Waste Management 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.