Townsquare Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Townsquare Capital LLC trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,979 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 94,191 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $545,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $1,346,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,895,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,631,570. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.37 and a 200-day moving average of $55.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.27 and a 52-week high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % 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. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.