Melius Research Initiates Coverage on Waste Management (NYSE:WM)

Stock analysts at Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $263.00 price target on the business services provider's stock. Melius Research's price objective points to a potential upside of 12.32% from the stock's previous close.

WM has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Waste Management from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Melius started coverage on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Waste Management to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.00.

Waste Management Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WM traded down $2.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $234.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 484,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,736. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $231.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.48. Waste Management has a 52 week low of $196.59 and a 52 week high of $242.58. The company has a market capitalization of $94.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 37.93% and a net margin of 12.45%. Waste Management's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total transaction of $13,740,295.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 83,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Waste Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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