Courier Capital LLC Sells 17,650 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Courier Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 48,487 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 17,650 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 11.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 140,081 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,953,000 after acquiring an additional 14,480 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 264,710 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,164,000 after purchasing an additional 44,758 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $786,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.9 %

WMB stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $56.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,611,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,366,309. The company has a market cap of $68.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.