Estabrook Capital Management Sells 8,757 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Estabrook Capital Management reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,296 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 8,757 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up 1.5% of Estabrook Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Estabrook Capital Management's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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 raised their price objective 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, Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $57.09. 1,289,827 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,640,755. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company's fifty day moving average price is $57.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.