Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $260.00

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $255.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target points to a potential upside of 15.90% from the stock’s current price.

WM has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. CIBC upped their price objective on Waste Management from $227.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Waste Management from $255.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.94.

Waste Management Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of WM stock opened at $224.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $227.14 and a 200-day moving average of $217.91. The stock has a market cap of $90.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $196.59 and a 52-week high of $239.32.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total transaction of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares in the company, valued at $10,046,109.78. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 95,577 shares of company stock valued at $21,662,464. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WM. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 113.6% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 3,419 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 17.3% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 6.4% in the first quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 4,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,498,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in Waste Management during the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently 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.