KBC Group NV Cuts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

KBC Group NV lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 135,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 853 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $1,036,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,335,000 after buying an additional 16,064 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE WMB opened at $56.55 on Monday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $57.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.54.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.