Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $260.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its price objective lifted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $255.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.90% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WM. Truist Financial set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waste Management from $268.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DZ Bank assumed coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.18.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:WM opened at $216.85 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.94. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $194.11 and a 52-week high of $242.58. The company has a market cap of $87.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $6.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 33.00%. Waste Management’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 1,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.06, for a total transaction of $299,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,540 shares in the company, valued at $3,373,112.40. This represents a 8.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waste Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,064,206,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 444.3% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,206,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $487,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800,728 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 15,782.4% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,728,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $395,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,603 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 55.5% in the second quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,897,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $663,037,000 after buying an additional 1,034,258 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Waste Management by 218.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,369,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,494,000 after buying an additional 939,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc (NYSE: WM) is a leading provider of integrated waste management and environmental services in North America. The company offers end-to-end solutions that span collection, transfer, disposal and recycling, along with landfill operations and related infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Waste Management serves a broad customer base that includes residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients.

Core services include curbside and commercial waste collection, roll-off and temporary container services, materials recovery and recycling, and engineered landfill disposal.