The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stake Reduced by Aurora Private Wealth Inc.

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,193 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,031 shares during the quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 181,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,504 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $242,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 207,629 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,824,000 after purchasing an additional 34,870 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 36,554 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 60.1% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $59.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.41. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $61.46.

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. 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 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Mizuho raised their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’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 $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.