Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 1,274,424 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,194,402 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,274,424 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.18% of Williams Companies worth $118,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.77. 5,118,505 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,637,206. The stock's fifty day moving average is $58.16 and its 200 day moving average is $56.82. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.88 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $71.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.50.

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.