The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,452,007 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 693,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.69% of Williams Companies worth $457,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded up $0.27 on Wednesday, hitting $58.47. The company had a trading volume of 5,750,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,628,474. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.69 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $71.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $57.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.97.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Williams Companies 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.