Monetary Management Group Inc. Sells 9,300 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Monetary Management Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,950 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 9,300 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. 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, CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $58.48. 1,311,639 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,624,178. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $71.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $57.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.61. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

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.