ELCO Management Co. LLC decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 200,806 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 10,913 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises 5.7% of ELCO Management Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. ELCO Management Co. LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $575,103,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3,490.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,600,239 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $86,605,000 after buying an additional 1,555,667 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 147.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,906,740 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $103,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,195 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.07.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on WMB
Williams Companies Stock Up 2.1 %
Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $1.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,477,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,666,684. The company has a market capitalization of $68.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.43.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Williams Companies Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies
In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % 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. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.
About Williams Companies
(
Free Report)
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.
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