Financial Counselors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,069,376 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 113,161 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $57,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $60.78 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.29. The company has a market cap of $74.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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.