UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 252,840 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,956,617 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 252,840 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.73% of Williams Companies worth $484,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays raised their target price 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, 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 research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48% 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 worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.88 and a 52-week high of $61.67. 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 price is $58.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.00.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

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.

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