MML Investors Services LLC Trims Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 49.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,060 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 101,146 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,687,797,000 after acquiring an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $575,103,000. Amundi lifted its position in Williams Companies by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,425,933 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $456,012,000 after purchasing an additional 234,423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.63. The stock had a trading volume of 933,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,605,857. The company's 50-day moving average price is $57.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.31. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.69 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % 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 valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.