Curi RMB Capital LLC Cuts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Curi RMB Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,876 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.49 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.69 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.43 and a 200 day moving average of $55.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.