Axa S.A. Sells 155,979 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

AXA S.A. decreased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 47.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,370 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 155,979 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $57.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,845,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,656,954. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company's 50-day moving average is $57.91 and its 200-day moving average is $56.70. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.57 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $70.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

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.