Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Sells 422,916 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 309,156 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 422,916 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $538,482,000 after purchasing an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.4% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 8,540,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $332,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,726,000 after purchasing an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.62.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $52.14 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $52.85. The company has a market capitalization of $63.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.