SageView Advisory Group LLC Has $981,000 Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

SageView Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,132 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,204 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $981,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $149,326,000 after buying an additional 108,675 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 12.6% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $56.24 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 upped their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

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.