LRI Investments LLC Sells 367 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

LRI Investments LLC reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,664 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 367 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,909,000 after purchasing an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after buying an additional 718,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after buying an additional 618,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $54.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $66.51 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $60.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $53.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.03.

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 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. CIBC lifted their price target 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. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.07.

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.