Waste Management's $320M Trading Volume Plummets to 394th in Market Activity Amid Analyst Upgrades and Insider Selling

On August 1, 2025, Waste Management (WM) saw a trading volume of $0.32 billion, a 23.09% decline from the previous day, ranking 394th in market activity. The stock closed down 0.12% amid mixed institutional and analyst activity.

National Bank Financial upgraded its Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) forecast for Waste Management to $2.12 from $2.09, citing stronger-than-expected Q2 performance. The company reported $1.92 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.03, with revenue rising 19.0% year-over-year to $6.43 billion. HSBC and Melius Research also raised price targets, with HSBC lifting its target to $265 and Melius assigning a "strong-buy" rating. However, insider selling by top executives, including a 40.82% reduction in CFO Devina Rankin’s holdings, introduced short-term uncertainty.

Institutional investors adjusted positions in Waste Management during Q1 2025. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake by 51.1%, while GAMMA Investing LLC added 13.1% more shares. These moves contrasted with insider sales, as corporate ownership now stands at 0.18%. The stock’s 52-week range of $199.69–$242.58 reflects moderate volatility, supported by a 1.42% dividend yield and a 34.54 P/E ratio.

A strategy of buying the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding for one day generated a 166.71% return from 2022 to the present, outperforming a 29.18% benchmark. This highlights liquidity concentration as a key driver of short-term stock performance, particularly in high-volume names like Waste Management.