The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by HF Advisory Group LLC

HF Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,570 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $59.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.71. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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.