ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 316,904 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 50.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 316,266 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 316,904 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $17,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $39.88 and a one year high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $71.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 106.95%.

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.