Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Cuts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,952 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,972 shares during the quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 98,313 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,891 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 27,620 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 189.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 169,692 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,613,000 after buying an additional 111,143 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $545,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 125,601 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,895,000 after acquiring an additional 22,810 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $55.40. 626,740 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,227,647. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $55.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $67.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.14.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. 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 firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. 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 3.43%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 81.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

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.