The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,466 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,729 shares during the quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $59.22 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.71. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.