The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Cut by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,143 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,943 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMB. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $55.19 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.40 and a 200-day moving average of $50.49. The company has a market capitalization of $67.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 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.