Waste Management (NYSE:WM) Given New $231.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) had its target price raised by Oppenheimer from $230.00 to $231.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $214.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $213.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waste Management to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.11.

Waste Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $215.88 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $209.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.01, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.74. Waste Management has a 52-week low of $167.78 and a 52-week high of $225.00.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waste Management will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is currently 45.87%.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, Director Maryrose Sylvester sold 310 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $834,946.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 26.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 2,198 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its stake in Waste Management by 4.2% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 2,566 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in Waste Management by 0.9% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 27,831 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,778,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management by 1.3% during the third quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas boosted its stake in Waste Management by 4.3% during the third quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 3,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 129 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.