Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Stock Price

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its target price cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $232.00 to $230.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.38% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Waste Management from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waste Management from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $238.00 to $242.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. DZ Bank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Waste Management from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.95.

Waste Management Price Performance

Waste Management stock opened at $218.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $87.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $211.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.41. Waste Management has a 1 year low of $194.11 and a 1 year high of $242.58.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. The trade was a 8.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,436,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,487,924,000 after purchasing an additional 774,255 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Waste Management by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,647,146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,972,856,000 after buying an additional 126,329 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,668,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,250,613,000 after buying an additional 277,250 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the second quarter worth about $1,064,206,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,954,519 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $873,276,000 after acquiring an additional 11,688 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.