Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 12,956 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,182,537 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 12,956 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $53,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 20.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,158 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after purchasing an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 26.8% during the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,771,000 after purchasing an additional 443,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 102.2% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 865,538 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,512,000 after purchasing an additional 437,486 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.14 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $52.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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 dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.