D.B. Root & Company LLC Sells 545 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

D.B. Root & Company LLC decreased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,919 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $59.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 1.06. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.12. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.