First County Bank CT Cuts Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First County Bank CT trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 10,155 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after buying an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 78,548 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,586,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 10.9% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 912,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $41,661,000 after acquiring an additional 89,635 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,845 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 16,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 146,333 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,680,000 after purchasing an additional 27,186 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.04. The firm has a market cap of $72.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

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.