Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Price Target Raised to $229.00

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Raymond James from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider's stock.

WM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. HSBC cut shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $202.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $214.21.

Waste Management Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WM traded down $2.63 on Friday, hitting $210.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,134. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The stock has a market cap of $84.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $208.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.87. Waste Management has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $214.54.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Waste Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio is 49.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total value of $65,326.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,096,448.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Christopher P. Desantis sold 346 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.64, for a total transaction of $69,075.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,641.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Donald J. Smith sold 329 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.56, for a total transaction of $65,326.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,096,448.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,007 shares of company stock worth $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,963,527 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,061,521,000 after purchasing an additional 46,084 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 16.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,366,017 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $827,815,000 after purchasing an additional 776,491 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 1.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,213,330 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $794,174,000 after purchasing an additional 66,816 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Waste Management by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $859,624,000 after acquiring an additional 16,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Waste Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $784,486,000. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.