Oak Thistle LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Oak Thistle LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 83.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,375 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 37,159 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $203,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $189,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Northstar Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,134 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.9 %

WMB stock opened at $59.13 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.52. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $72.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Mizuho raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.