Procyon Advisors LLC Cuts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Procyon Advisors LLC reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,729 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 53,488 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 120.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.9 %

WMB opened at $59.13 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. CIBC raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.