Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 8,580 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 51.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,050 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 8,580 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $436,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of WMB opened at $58.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.69 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $71.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.99.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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 target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.