Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,097,504 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 728,481 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $492,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE WMB opened at $56.13 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.54 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $68.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.21.

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.