Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Has $71,000 Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lowered its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,304 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 911 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $71,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 19.6% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,519 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 173.0% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 78,254 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 49,586 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 18.0% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 13,043 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $1,794,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 557.1% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 143,102 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,082,000 after buying an additional 121,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.5 %

WMB stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.54. 4,223,014 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,561,165. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $55.69 and its 200 day moving average is $49.08. The firm has a market cap of $67.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.