The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by GS Investments Inc.

GS Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,900 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up 2.1% of GS Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.37 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.79. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $72.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

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.