Sterneck Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sterneck Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,652 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,958 shares during the period. Sterneck Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $55.55 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36. The company has a market cap of $67.72 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day moving average is $55.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.98.

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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. CIBC lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.07.

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.