The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Everstar Asset Management LLC

Everstar Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,418 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the period. Everstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 238,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,930,000 after purchasing an additional 45,748 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,488,000 after buying an additional 45,160 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $73,000. Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $269,000. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $59.24 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.18 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.