CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 1,814 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,823 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,814 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,566 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 70,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 24,513 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,088 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Finally, Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $568,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $56.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $61.46. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.86.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. 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 payout ratio is 84.39%.

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.