Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Sells 600 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt cut its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,615 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after buying an additional 10,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $55.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $68.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.11.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.