The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Position Lessened by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,138,410 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 325,744 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Williams Companies worth $115,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.21.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of WMB opened at $61.14 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.