Horan Securities Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Horan Securities Inc. cut its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,114 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 885 shares during the quarter. Horan Securities Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,549 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 10,374 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 6.8% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 14,497 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $662,000 after buying an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $71,952,000 after acquiring an additional 35,981 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at $212,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

WMB opened at $54.37 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.78 and a 1 year high of $61.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $66.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.