Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Sells 114 Shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WM. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 62,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,520,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 96,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,741,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 18,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,835,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% in the third quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 3,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares in the company, valued at $14,934,010.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 3,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.49, for a total transaction of $653,329.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,403 shares in the company, valued at $7,262,034.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total value of $153,899.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,934,010.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,007 shares of company stock valued at $3,696,520. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $211.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Waste Management from $214.00 to $222.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Waste Management from $221.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Waste Management from $207.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.24.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM stock traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $207.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,237,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,229. Waste Management, Inc. has a one year low of $149.71 and a one year high of $214.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $208.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.72.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.23. Waste Management had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Waste Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Waste Management’s payout ratio is 49.10%.

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.