Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA Sells 181 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $57.00 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.03 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.