The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 326,159 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 49,964 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 9.1% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,396 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 31,557 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 116,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after buying an additional 13,709 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 113,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,423,000 after acquiring an additional 15,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2.8% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 13,690 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $55.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $67.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $57.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 0.00 % 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. In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.