Investors Research Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Investors Research Corp cut its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 77.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 757 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,615 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $35,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after buying an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 11.8% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 5,896,375 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $229,782,000 after purchasing an additional 623,820 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after purchasing an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,771,000 after purchasing an additional 443,423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $59.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada 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 Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Williams Companies Company 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.