Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $215.83.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. CIBC lowered their target price on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Waste Management from $215.00 to $213.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Waste Management from $215.00 to $204.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $229.00 to $224.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $0.74 on Thursday, hitting $210.12. The company had a trading volume of 975,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,697,361. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $149.71 and a 52 week high of $225.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.49. The company has a market cap of $84.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The firm's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $330,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares in the company, valued at $9,711,680. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 45,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,324,156.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WM. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its position in Waste Management by 2.1% in the second quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 10,721 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,287,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $332,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waste Management during the second quarter valued at about $853,000. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 7.6% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 5,065 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waste Management by 50.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,937,000 after acquiring an additional 4,628 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waste Management Company Profile

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.