GM Advisory Group LLC Reduces Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

GM Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,974 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,043 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 8,257 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 160.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 33,960 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 20,917 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.75. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.16 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 3.43%. 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 (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.