Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Reduces Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,781 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,447 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.6 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $55.89 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.86. The firm has a market cap of $68.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. 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 twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.