BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Trims Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,582 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 10,815 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.77.

Williams Companies Trading Down 3.7 %

WMB stock opened at $56.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.69 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.96.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.