The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Reduced by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC decreased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,143 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,943 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $720,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after purchasing an additional 10,950 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $55.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $67.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.49.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. CIBC increased their price objective 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.