Fulton Bank N.A. Sells 18,499 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Fulton Bank N.A. cut its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,365 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 18,499 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $60,909,000 after buying an additional 922,550 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 31.7% in the third quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $136,461,000 after acquiring an additional 718,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $56.40. 5,986,743 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,862,522. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $60.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company's 50 day moving average is $55.69 and its 200 day moving average is $49.08.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.