Intrust Bank NA Reduces Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Intrust Bank NA lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,526 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 35,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 234,445 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,688,000 after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $103,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 675.4% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on 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 $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.24 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.30 and a 200 day moving average of $54.46.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

About Williams Companies

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.