B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,983 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 48,377 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 18,111 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Family Advisors LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.28 on Friday, reaching $54.43. The company had a trading volume of 7,224,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,188,172. 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 $66.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $54.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) 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. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.07.

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.