The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Dividend Assets Capital LLC

Dividend Assets Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,748 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,712 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises 1.2% of Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,772 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,331 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 266.6% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 113,227 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,649,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $57.44 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.26 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 103.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Company 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.