TIAA Trust National Association Has $692,000 Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 55.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,781 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,582 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.48 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.07.

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.