Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 63,224 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,930 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 63,224 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $149,326,000 after buying an additional 108,675 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,346,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Williams Companies by 48.8% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 6,409 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE WMB opened at $59.05 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.13. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.69 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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%. On average, analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.