The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Lessened by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,639 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 7,380 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays lifted 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 note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.50.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,138,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,625,710. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.88 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $58.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.82. 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 firm has a market cap of $71.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

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.