Townsquare Capital LLC Sells 18,349 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Townsquare Capital LLC lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 286,170 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 18,349 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after purchasing an additional 39,880 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in Williams Companies by 402.9% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 73,693 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.14 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.00.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. CIBC raised 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. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

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.