Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price target increased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $250.00 to $273.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 16.72% from the stock’s previous close.

WM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $263.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Waste Management from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waste Management from $236.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Waste Management from $232.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $270.00 to $263.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.59.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.0%

WM stock opened at $233.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.57. Waste Management has a 12 month low of $194.11 and a 12 month high of $248.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 12,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.48, for a total value of $2,847,055.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,406,483.52. The trade was a 66.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.83, for a total transaction of $1,165,136.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 78,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,084,739.94. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 98,042 shares of company stock valued at $23,039,777. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,990,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,566,508,000 after buying an additional 553,605 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,390,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,820,921,000 after acquiring an additional 281,456 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,993,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,972,371,000 after acquiring an additional 117,476 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 5.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at $1,022,916,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

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.