The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Everpar Advisors LLC

Everpar Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,973 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,151 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 92,229 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,991,000 after purchasing an additional 3,635 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 612.2% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 80,193 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,340,000 after purchasing an additional 68,933 shares during the period. Retireful LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $727,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 11,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 2,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,516 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $59.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.52. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization of $72.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 80.17%.

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.