Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives $253.55 Average PT from Brokerages

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-four ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $253.5455.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (down from $254.00) on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Waste Management in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Waste Management from $223.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John A. Carroll sold 1,021 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.71, for a total transaction of $239,638.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,950,205.39. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.71, for a total transaction of $151,599.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 83,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,397,636.56. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 62,746 shares of company stock worth $14,470,494 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,566,508,000 after acquiring an additional 553,605 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,921,000 after purchasing an additional 281,456 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,371,000 after purchasing an additional 117,476 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,250,613,000 after purchasing an additional 277,250 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,022,916,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $228.16 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.29. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $194.11 and a 12-month high of $242.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.39 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.