Commerce Bank Has $3.67 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Commerce Bank reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,749 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,762 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $58.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $71.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.69 and a twelve month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.77.

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.