Bank of Montreal Can Has $139.97 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,586,253 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 202,264 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.21% of Williams Companies worth $139,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company'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 value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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Williams Companies Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE WMB traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.24. 7,477,342 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,661,726. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $37.18 and a one year high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $68.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upped 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.07.

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.