BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Reduces Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 203,357 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 30,031 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $325,726,000 after purchasing an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $95,771,000 after purchasing an additional 443,423 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 102.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 865,538 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $39,512,000 after purchasing an additional 437,486 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded down $2.07 on Monday, reaching $56.45. The company had a trading volume of 7,952,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,297,445. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The company has a market cap of $68.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.38.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.79.

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.