Analysts Set Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) Price Target at $234.50

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $235.94.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Waste Management from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Waste Management from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Waste Management from $231.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 69,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO John A. Carroll sold 209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.55, for a total value of $46,094.95. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,506.30. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,300,278 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,526,823,000 after acquiring an additional 538,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,371 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,654,173,000 after buying an additional 64,260 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 6,272,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,265,629,000 after buying an additional 1,151,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the fourth quarter worth $1,009,726,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,240,429 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $854,446,000 after buying an additional 280,455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WM traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $227.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,206,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,747,501. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $212.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.22. Waste Management has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.88% and a net margin of 12.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waste Management will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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.