Morgan Stanley Boosts Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target to $214.00

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $214.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 1.86% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. HSBC lowered Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Eight equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.21.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $210.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.08. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Waste Management 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 value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total value of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waste Management

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 22,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,348,000 after buying an additional 22,455 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 13,927.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 504,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,319,000 after buying an additional 500,701 shares during the period. 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.