Bridges Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,147 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 16,206 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WMB. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.31. 7,120,229 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,938,786. The company has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $56.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.