61,675 Shares in Waste Management, Inc. $WM Purchased by OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 61,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,551,000. Waste Management accounts for 1.6% of OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USS Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 95,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,958,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 58,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,643 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Finally, Perryman Financial Advisory Inc. AD purchased a new stake in Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth about $12,915,000. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Waste Management from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $273.00 to $268.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.30.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:WM opened at $216.88 on Tuesday. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.11 and a 52 week high of $248.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.41 and a 200 day moving average of $224.78. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors 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 yield of 1.7%. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.70%.

About Waste Management

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.