The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Holdings Trimmed by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 585,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 20,587 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Williams Companies were worth $31,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in 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 boosted its holdings 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 valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,062,000 after buying an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.67. The company had a trading volume of 3,845,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,656,954. The firm's fifty day moving average is $57.91 and its 200 day moving average is $56.70. 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 firm has a market capitalization 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. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.57 and a twelve month high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released 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. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Williams Companies 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.