The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Stokes Capital Advisors LLC

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,465 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 977 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises about 2.6% of Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. RoundAngle Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $1,907,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 169,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,175,000 after acquiring an additional 4,119 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $275,000. Finally, Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 74,009 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,005,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their target price 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 boosted their price target 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 upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $59.22 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.13 and a 200 day moving average of $49.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.