Stifel Financial Corp Sells 96,977 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,843,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 96,977 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.40% of Williams Companies worth $221,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,771,000 after acquiring an additional 443,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 102.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 865,538 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,512,000 after acquiring an additional 437,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $56.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $68.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.28 and its 200 day moving average is $46.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

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