Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Lowered to $238.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $255.00 to $238.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.10% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WM. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Waste Management from $230.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. CIBC upped their target price on Waste Management from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. Ten research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.72.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WM traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $210.44. The company had a trading volume of 166,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,623,462. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management has a 12-month low of $183.00 and a 12-month high of $230.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.29.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.07. Waste Management had a return on equity of 39.88% and a net margin of 12.35%. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $66,795.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This represents a 7.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WM. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 49,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,459,000 after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 167.1% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,777 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 7.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 13.2% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waste Management by 35.6% in the second quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 1,802 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by 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.