Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,205 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WM. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.89, for a total value of $903,560.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,185,967.59. The trade was a 17.75 % 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 Tara J. Hemmer sold 4,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $1,016,421.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,052,881.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WM shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Waste Management from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waste Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.94.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WM opened at $227.80 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.59 and a twelve month high of $230.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $212.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.29. The stock has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Waste Management had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 38.88%. On average, research analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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.