Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Reduces Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,593 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 10,950 shares during the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $59.64 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.36. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $61.46.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.