Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Given New $220.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut Waste Management’s price target from $230 to $220 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying approximately 3.74% upside from the stock’s $212.07 price.
• Despite the downgrade, analyst sentiment remains favorable: Waste Management has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $256.06.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $2.02 versus the $1.98 consensus, while revenue rose 4% year over year to $6.68 billion.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $220.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.74% from the company's current price.

WM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Waste Management from $264.00 to $263.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their price target on Waste Management from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Waste Management from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $256.06.

Waste Management Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $212.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 398,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,205. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $194.11 and a 1-year high of $248.13. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $216.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.43. The company has a market capitalization of $84.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO John Carroll sold 1,365 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $300,163.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $771,629.10. This represents a 28.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waste Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WM. Morgan Stanley Institutional Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $322,479,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 279.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,075,906 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $236,387,000 after buying an additional 792,037 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Waste Management by 23,051.5% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 770,945 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,716,000 after buying an additional 767,615 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Waste Management during the second quarter worth about $146,053,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,733,944 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,849,981,000 after buying an additional 535,079 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company's stock.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, doing business as WM NYSE: WM, is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, transfer, disposal, recycling and resource recovery services. Its customers include residential households, commercial businesses, industrial organizations and municipalities.

The company operates a network of collection operations, transfer stations, landfills, recycling facilities and waste-to-energy assets across the United States and Canada. Its services include curbside collection, dumpster and roll-off services, recycling, landfill disposal, organics management and specialized waste solutions.

Founded in 1968, WM has expanded from a traditional waste collection business into a broader provider of environmental and sustainability services.

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