Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $227.00

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $215.00 to $227.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.69% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WM. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Waste Management Price Performance

NYSE WM traded down $1.90 on Friday, reaching $210.80. The company had a trading volume of 661,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,658,558. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $208.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.50. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $149.71 and a 12 month high of $214.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.59 billion, a PE ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The company had revenue of $5.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Waste Management’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waste Management will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waste Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $784,486,000. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 315.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,457,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,165,000 after buying an additional 1,106,773 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 26,116.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 913,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,680,000 after acquiring an additional 910,418 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Waste Management by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after acquiring an additional 844,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

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.