The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Position Cut by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 278,840 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 15,683 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% during the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 551,136 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,159,000 after acquiring an additional 37,379 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 49,599 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 19,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 103.1% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 24,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 12,647 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $58.14 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. 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 stock has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.17.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.79.

Williams Companies Company 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.