ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 316,904 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,266 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 316,904 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $17,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,630,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,610,341. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.00. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.88 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors 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 yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

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.