ABC Arbitrage SA Acquires New Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 19,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,953,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 4,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 892.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 139 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waste Management by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 5,826 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $1,294,071.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 69,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,424,457.04. This trade represents a 7.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.59, for a total value of $152,868.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,046,109.78. This represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,055 shares of company stock valued at $3,578,340. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WM opened at $227.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.59 and a fifty-two week high of $230.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.96. The company has a market cap of $91.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WM. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $243.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.50.

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.