The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 79,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 8,975 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 120.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.3 %

WMB stock opened at $57.86 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $50.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $58.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.